Percy Jackson and the Daughter of Zeus
by Dawnbreaker23
Summary: A Greek goddess' reckless gamble results in the death of a beloved daughter of Athena. Thalia Grace, devastated, embarks on a dangerous quest to avenge her friend's death. 23-year-old Percy Jackson, though grieving and out of practice, must step in to stop the increasingly unhinged (and extremely powerful) daughter of Zeus from succumbing to her darkest, most chaotic impulses. AU.
1. Gamble

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you! **

Thalia

Thalia ignored the guttural cries of frustration as she lounged underneath a tree. The sun was just starting to set, but Thalia didn't mind- golden light poured through the gaps in the tree branches. She closed her eyes and adjusted her position on her makeshift bed of leaves.

Fall came early this year. Thalia loved fall; the weather, the leaves, the animals, and the colors transfixed her like no other. It wasn't as harsh as winter and not as soft as summer, but nowhere near as optimistic as spring.

Her back was against the thick tree trunk as she slowly picked apart an old leaf- training her vision onto the faded, crinkled body of the leaf ripping from the stem.

"AGH! Enough of this!"

Thalia looked up (with difficulty) to see Reyna charging towards her. Reyna was holding her blindfold in her left hand, and her bow in her right hand like a sword. She looked as if she was ready to gut Thalia right then and there. When Reyna was about fifteen feet away, though, a sharp gust of wind blew against the former praetor. A wall of leaves were slung from the ground and into Reyna's face. This did not discourage Reyna, though- to Thalia's surprise, Reyna continued to walk a few more feet and stopped right in front of her.

Thalia may have been slightly more intimidated if Reyna did not have about sixteen orange and brown leaves in her hair, on her jacket, and on her face.

Reyna took a breath and blew a leaf off her cheek. She gestured towards the smattering of trees behind her in the background. "This exercise is pointless."

Thalia saw that virtually every tree had at least five silver arrows embedded in it. "Are you sure you're not just saying this because...I don't know…maybe, for once, you're not naturally good at it? Mommy's not guiding that arrow for you like she usually does."

Reyna frowned. "My skill is my own. Bellona does not control my actions. These exercises, though, they're not realistic- I would always look at something before I shoot an arrow at it. Training is meant to practice realistic scenarios, environments you would actually find yourself in. I always keep myself in a place where I can strategically interact with any adversaries around me. That includes not being inconveniently blinded in the middle of battle."

Thalia sighed and flicked her leaf stem away. Even after stepping down as praetor, Reyna seemed to have trouble learning to release control of her surroundings and adjusting to the wild nature of the world. As Thalia herself had to learn, it's virtually impossible to control every aspect of the world- especially when dealing in a world of gods and monsters.

"If I were Artemis, I'd probably say some kind of poetic response about the chaotic nature of the world or something like that and just tell you to keep going. But, if I'm being honest, you're skilled, Reyna. You and I have both been in our fair share of scraps," Thalia said as she brushed the leaves off her. She rose to her feet to come face to face with the relatively new Hunter.

"But the Hunt is not the walls of Camp Jupiter. Sometimes, you need to have eyes on the back of your head. And, on the side. And on the top. There will be attacks from all angles. Some things may attack head on while others try to catch you by surprise."

Reyna scoffed. "Lupa trained me to survive in the wild. One of the things she taught me is that there is little honor to attacking an enemy from behind. It shows a lack of respect for yourself and your adversary. "

"Most of the things we're hunting don't care about honor or respect," Thalia said as she stepped past Reyna. As she said that, for some reason, Luke's smile flashed through her head like a flash of lightning. It was gone just as quickly as it arrived.

Thalia looked to the sky to clear her head. The clouds slowly moved across the sky. Even though Reyna had joined the Hunt about two months ago, Thalia was awestruck by how much promise she showed. If Reyna kept at it, she may be able to be a leader on par with Zoe or Hemithea.

Thalia regarded the arrows in the trees. A breeze crept through the forest as she thought about her time as a pine-laden guardian of Camp Half-Blood.

When Thalia was a tree, she was in a weird space of limbo; she couldn't quite live, think, and perceive the way she could now. It was like she was in a weird coma where she couldn't wake up. Despite this, she felt every breeze, every drop of rain, and every grain of soil.

Thalia remembered, however, still being able to dream; and that was how she explored her mind and traversed her memories. She remembered having dreams about Percy, Luke, and Annabeth at one point in time. The last thing Thalia remembered feeling before she was cured by the Fleece was nothing but pure power that tore her from her dreams. That was the divine power that brought her to Half-Blood Hill.

Whenever she was dreaming, though, she would ask herself if she was destined to be a tree for all time. In this forest, now, with Reyna, she found herself asking similar questions.

_Is this my fate? For all of eternity? Being a Hunter? _

_Am I capable of more?_

Thalia pushed those thoughts out of her head- she couldn't be distracted when talking to Reyna. She had to keep her focus. As she refocused her vision to the arrows in the trees, Thalia had to admit- it was amazing how Reyna, while blindfolded, was able to hit nothing but trees. Thalia didn't know who would be prouder; Naomi or Celyn.

Thalia grabbed the shaft of the arrow and ripped it out the tree in one motion. She silently apologized to the tree, and then turned to Reyna. "People care about what they can get from you. Animals care about what their next meal will be. Monsters care about what their next kill will be. You have to be aware at all times."

Thalia beckoned towards the bow. Reyna slid the bow off her back and handed it to Thalia. Thalia nocked the arrow.

"Most people think that being aware means keeping your eyes open. While that may be true in some circumstances, you need to have multiple ways to perceive the environment around you. You don't want to be helpless in the event that you get dust in your eyes or half-deafened by an explosion," Thalia said as she hoisted the bow and drew the drawstring back until it was taut.

"You can 'see' your target-" Thalia closed her eyes, focused, and inhaled. In a second, she noticed a number of things. She noticed the breeze in the air and felt the warmth of the sunlight on her skin. She was able to smell and almost taste fur caked in sweat and blood. Thalia could tell the target was moving in a hurry, as she heard the _pitter-patter _of little feet running over the leaf-adorned ground. As if the source of the noise could tell Thalia was tracking it, the _pitter-patter_ stopped.

_Focus, _Thalia told herself. Thalia felt a familiar impulse, and released the arrow without hesitation. Thalia heard a _chunk, _and a subsequent screech.

Thalia opened her eyes, turned, and returned the bow to Reyna. "-without using your sight. That's a skill Artemis taught me years ago. She always believed that it was imperative that a Hunter learn how to track a target by using all your senses rather than simply sight."

Thalia looked in the direction of her arrow and found that it had impaled what looked like a squirrel to a nearby tree. The arrow had pierced its neck and the creature was splayed out as if it was making snow angels in the bark. As Thalia and Reyna approached, they saw it was definitely not a squirrel. It was twice as big as a normal squirrel, almost like it was from New York. It had a turquoise streak down its back, and dried blood caked around its mouth and teeth. Thalia removed the arrow from the tree while the creature was still on it. The creature smelled like rotten milk mixed with sulfur. She had to fight the urge to gag.

Instead of throwing up, she managed to hold it up to Reyna. "A Ratatosk. One of the many descendants of Ratatoskr, a really smart Norse squirrel-being who serves as kind of the Hermes of the World Tree. Don't call him a squirrel to his face, though...trust me. Ratatoskr has traveled to this world a few times, and decided, to, um, mate with...our squirrels. Needless to say-"

Thalia gestured to the Ratatosk's blood-soaked claws and teeth. "-they didn't turn out quite right. They became very carnivorous, and can be very dangerous."

Thalia was about to go on, but stopped when she saw Reyna. Reyna had taken a knee; her head hung as if she was being knighted. Thalia felt the wind change directions and blow at her back rather than towards her front.

Thalia turned to see her Hunters approaching, led by a young woman that looked about eighteen. Two large wolves walked on either side of her. She looked of Native descent, and she was wearing silver and black hunting garb. Both the silver and black clothes gleamed like stars in the sky. The woman's eyes glowed with silvery-yellow moonlit power as her hair flowed in the wind.

Even if she looked a little bit older this time, Thalia recognized her immediately.

Thalia nodded. "My lady."

Thalia turned, nudged Reyna, and whispered, "Hey. We don't really kneel to Lady Artemis when she arrives."

Reyna scrambled up, understandably a little flustered. Artemis had not visited the Hunters in a while, as she was preoccupied with expanding groups of Hunters around the world. She had groups in Europe, Australia, Africa, and South America. As such, Reyna had not gotten too many chances to interact with the Goddess of the Hunt. Artemis had begun to take an older form since she had been adding more older Hunters to the group. Thalia figured it was an attempt to not alienate them; rather, make them feel welcome and not like a freak.

Artemis took a seat on the ground in front of them. The Hunters followed suit and formed two concentric circles around the goddess. Hunter put down their tents, and Reyna watched in tacit awe as Artemis waved her hand to create a small fire in the middle of them. Thalia sat in the space made for her in the first circle, directly facing Artemis.

Artemis closed her eyes and inhaled. When she did, it seemed like all the sounds seemed to drain from the forest. Thalia noticed that there was something troubling her. The air was full of expectation and it seemed like everyone was leaning in.

Artemis opened her eyes. The forest sounds returned. "I have a new hunt for you all, my Hunters. This one is different; it's not a beast without direction. Rather, it is a dangerous individual that must be prevented from returning to this world from Tartarus."

The team bristled at the mention of Tartarus. The sun began to retreat behind the woods as if Apollo himself was intimidated by the mere mention of the name.

Hunter asked, "Who are we hunting, my lady?"

Artemis said, simply, "An old enemy of Athena."

Thalia felt goosebumps on her arms. "Arachne."

Artemis' eyes flashed as the wind picked up. "Names have power, Thalia. I would not go around carelessly throwing around her name during this grim time."

Thalia felt her face getting warm. "So it is her?"

Artemis closed her eyes and gave a slight nod.

Thalia blinked. She remembered several stories from Annabeth and Percy about their run-in with the spider-woman. "Wait, I thought Annabeth and Percy had taken care of her. Monsters don't reform that quickly, do they?"

The look Artemis gave her nearly perfectly translated to, _They do now! _

Artemis then trained her gaze onto the fire. Thalia thought she saw a microcosm of disgust on her face, as if she was using the fire to watch what was going on in Tartarus at the moment. "They do not usually re-form that quickly. However, this enemy seems to have a cult of followers that are dedicated to bring her back to this plane of existence. They have also done their research; the rites they are doing have been long-forbidden uses of Greek and Egyptian magic. Even Hecate warned us to stay away from anyone using that kind of power. What did she call it...a 'cocktail' of magic?"

Thalia thought about Percy's stories about him working with magicians from Egypt. She wondered how powerful Greek and Egyptian magic could be when combined together.

_What can Egyptian magic do? _

Reyna cleared her throat. "Excuse me...my goddess….er, my lady."

Artemis nodded in approval.

Reyna stood as if she was in the military. "My lady, where is this enemy now? Where would she be able to assemble such a legion of devoted followers?"

Artemis looked to the sky. "I am not sure how she amassed such a following. According to my ravens, though, suspicious activity was spotted by the Acropolis."

Thalia looked at Artemis. The Acropolis was under special protection by Athena; any shady happenings would have alerted Athena immediately and would have been quickly met with her wrath. Thalia doubted that these followers had the gall to do something that risky. However, she figured that a group of Arachne stans would likely want to get to a respectable place before connecting with their idol. It would be like FaceTiming a rockstar in a dumpster.

"I think I know where they are," Thalia said. "Athena and Spider-Woman are, like, mortal enemies. The...enemy's followers may indeed be by the Acropolis, but not in it. That would be too conspicuous, obvious, and dangerous. Rather, they are to the north of it. They may be in the temple dedicated to Athena's child. The E-rich something."

Aretmis nodded. "The Erechtheum. Named after Erichthonius. A fine ruler- technically, the offspring of Hephaestus and Athena. Made by the combination of the sweat, tears, and skin of the two gods."

"Gross," Jackie said in the back row. Some of the younger Hunters laughed, but most of the others bristled with discomfort.

Artemis continued. "I know that you all are tracking the Teumessian Fox at the moment. This, however, takes priority. Arachne arising in an Athenian temple very well may be a blatant and intentionally crafted sign of disrespect. I fear that Arachne has some kind of plan involving Athena."

Jackson piped up from the first row, "Where you will be, my lady?"

Artemis' eyes glittered. "On Olympus. If Arachne rises, I may need to get to my sister before she does anything rash. Athena is the smartest being I know, but when emotion clouds her judgment; she can unload quite the wrath. She reminds me of my father at times."

Thalia blinked. She kept forgetting that Artemis was the daughter of Zeus, which makes Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, her half-sister. She pictured a ten-year-old Artemis playing sports with a young Jason while Thalia's mother drank a beer and read the recent tabloid magazines. The image was so weird that it made Thalia both laugh and shiver.

Artemis stood and waved her hand. Some flames tore from the fire. Several leaves started to float in the air and swirl together. The flames and leaves began to combine with one another. They began to glow and turn into sparkles until they exploded into moonlight. Thalia slightly flinched at the explosion, but it seemed to be harmless. Standing before them, suddenly, was a chariot. Not just any chariot, though.

Artemis' chariot.

The body of the seat looked to be hand-carved from silver. It seemed to have about twenty rows of seats, like a rollercoaster. The chariot had a luminescent glow in the same way that Apollo's car-chariot had a radiant shine. If his car was the sun, this was the moon. It was pulled by four eight-foot-tall golden deer with glowing silver horns. Thalia recognized the golden deer as Artemis' sacred animals, though she wasn't sure if either of the four deer were the one she was following years ago.

Artemis looked at Thalia with a twinkle in her eye that made Thalia's stomach drop.

_Please don't say it. _

_Please don't say it. _

"Thalia. You will drive the Hunters to Athens through this chariot through the air to Athens."

Thalia's hands began to get clammy. "You mean, drive it, like...in the air?"

Artemis tilted her head. "Would you rather it be a bicycle?"

She looked at the chariot, and it immediately became a long silver bicycle with golden wheels with about 25 silver seats on it.

Thalia's mouth was dry. All she could think about was being that high in the air. "No, I'm...I'm okay. I'll drive the chariot. I don't want to look like E.T."

Artemis nodded. "Fair enough."

The bicycle turned back into a chariot.

The Hunters began to pile into the chariot. Naomi piped up, "Lady Artemis? Why are we using your personal chariot? Don't you use it for special occasions only?"

Artemis had a ghost of a smile on her face. "One might say that. However, you all need to hurry. Usually, I would leave it up to you to find a way to Athens, but this hunt is a time-sensitive one. Thalia, in the front. My companions are set to take you to the Acropolis. Go!"

Leaves began to pick up and swirl around her. And, just like that, Artemis was gone.

All eyes were on Thalia as she slowly trudged to the front of the chariot. Thalia's heart was pounding through her chest. She knew they were immortal, but if anyone would find a way to kill immortal people, she'd be the one to do it with her sky-driving. Thalia sat in the front of the chariot. One of the deer turned back to her as if to say, _Everything all right back there? _

"Everything's fine, Rudolph," Thalia grumbled. She took the reins and felt energy hum through her wrists. She didn't know if it was the reins or her intuition, but she knew exactly how to use the reins to pilot them directly to the Acropolis.

Thalia felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Reyna nod at her. Though no words were spoken, Thalia saw Reyna's typically hard expression soften just slightly. Thalia nodded back and turned back to the front.

"What a day," she muttered. She was Artemis' lieutenant. She can't show weakness here. Thalia double checked to make sure her spear, her bow, and her Aegis bracelet was all intact and with her. Whereas most normal people did a three-pat for the wallet, keys, and phone, Thalia's three-pat was a little different.

Thalia turned forward and adjusted herself so her feet was pressing down on the chariot. She wanted as much weight on the seat as possible. She began to snap the reins. Almost as if they knew Thalia's intentions, the deer took off into the sky as soon as she moved the reins. Thalia prayed that she didn't look too gruesome when her face peeled off during this ride.

Thalia's screams were lost to the wind as they flew through the air and above the clouds like a fighter jet aggressively piloted by E.T. Her surroundings stretched and flattened around her. Thalia felt disembodied as she flew.

After a few seconds of her screaming her lungs out, Thalia heard a _fwoosh _as the chariot seemed to suspend in the air. Her soul and her body joined once again. Her surroundings began to rush at her until they were in clarity once more. However, it wasn't stopping- it was just slowing down.

They were here.

* * *

The first thing Thalia noticed was golden. The Acropolis and the surrounding structures were shining golden in the moonlight. Thalia didn't know if it was manmade or if Apollo had touched them, but there was one thing she had to admit.

Reyna stole the words right out of her mouth. "This is beautiful!"

The chariot slowed to a crawl as Artemis' deer started to descend. As they floated down, Thalia's stomach crawled up to her throat while her heart dropped to where her stomach was supposed to be. Thalia tried to fight the bile coming up in her throat. She silently cursed; she hated this about herself. She never knew why people need to be in the air in the first place; humans were land animals for a reason. If they were meant to be in the air, Zeus would have given everyone wings.

After what seemed like hours, the deer finally landed in the middle of the Acropolis. A very distinct odor permeated the area, seemingly getting stronger with each passing second. The ride and the odor combined was too much for Thalia; she stumbled out of the chariot and threw up in the Acropolis, tasting exactly what she had for dinner last night. Thalia washed herself off and took a swig of moonwater.

_Some leader I am_.

Thalia saw a few drunk kids around the area, taking pictures and Snapchatting. She thought back to a memory that was particularly salient for her in that moment.

"_She smelled weird."_

_Thalia took a bite of her burger. "Like, good weird?" _

_Percy nearly choked on his drink in laughter while Annabeth shook her head. "No...I wouldn't say good. It was almost like...think about your favorite pastry." _

_Thalia nodded while she chewed. The McHale's sign in the window flickered on and off. _

"_Okay, I got it. Cinnamon rolls." _

_Percy wrinkled his nose. "Cinnamon rolls are your favorite pastry?! Not honey buns?" _

_Annabeth ignored Percy and continued. "Think about how wonderful your favorite cinnamon rolls smell." _

_Thalia thought back to her mother's rolls that she would make when Thalia was young. They were rare, few, and far between, but when Thalia's mom felt appreciated or felt important, that's when the cinnamon rolls would flow, along with the music and hugs. _

_Now that she was thinking back, those cinnamon rolls smelled pretty damn good. _

_Annabeth seemed satisfied with Thalia's wistful look. "Now, imagine that you decided to save it in the kitchen cabinet for later." _

"_Okay…" _

"_And left it there for a month." _

"_Ugh." _

"_Right. You can, I don't know, still smell the pastry. But you can smell the odor of the rotting as well. Just as powerfully." _

"_And I'm done. Thanks, you all, for wonderful burger conversation," Percy said as he put down his food. Annabeth laughed and Thalia smiled into her fries. _

_Percy was pretty cool when his life wasn't actively being threatened. She was glad they made McHale's a monthly tradition. _

The smell was Arachne.

"Eyes up, ears open, you all. Stay sharp. She's near," Thalia barked.

Thalia and the Hunters dismounted the chariot. The Hunters immediately began preparing for the hunt.

Some of them were checking their arrows.

Others were sharpening their knives.

Hunter was checking on the wolves.

Thalia brandished her spear.

Jackson was lacing her boots (not as cool, but still important).

Thalia put her bow on her back and followed her internal Artemis-given compass until she was facing north. Sure enough, the Erechtheum stood about a stone's throw away. The smell seemed to be getting stronger as she turned there, pungent in an intoxicating way. It reminded her about how Leo described what gasoline smelled like to him.

Thalia looked at the chariot. The not-reindeer were pawing the ground and looking around, as if they were waiting for some kind of direction. Thalia focused, envisioned an excavator, and snapped her fingers. Immediately, a hazy shimmer spread over the chariot, and she knew that the Mist was in effect. Thinking about Percy's reaction when he first saw her do that almost brought a smile to her face.

Thalia turned to her Hunters. "Arachne seems to be here. Do you smell that?"

They nodded. The wolves covered their nose with their paws.

"Yeah, I don't blame you," Thalia said under her breath.

"That smell is Arachne. That means she's rising. We need to hurry. Time to go hunt."

Thalia and the Hunters began to hustle to the Erechtheum, but Hunter stopped. Thalia turned around to see Hunter trying to lead the wolves on. However, they were not having it; they seemed to be like, _Uh-uh. We are staying right here._ They whimpered and fought Hunter in everything she tried.

Thalia waited a few seconds, then barked, "Hunter! Leave them. Let's go."

Hunter hesitated, then turned to run back to the Hunters. The team ran to the Erechtheum. The structure looked like an incomplete building; one side was like the Acropolis with its strong columns and open entrance while another side was a solid wall. It was like the builders were rotated out halfway through, didn't exchange architecture plans, and were told to freestyle.

Thalia followed the smell to the side of the building. The side of the building had an additional piece of architecture that looked like it belonged in a different structure. It was like a well, except if the well was huge and had a roof that looked like it was being held up by pillars that looked like statues of Athena.

At this point, the smell had gotten so strong that Thalia was having trouble focusing. She turned to her Hunters, who had already wrapped cloth around their nose and mouth. She understood why the wolves had refused to come any closer.

Thalia climbed up next to one of the Athena pillars. She used one of the pillars for balance and looked downwards. While she saw nothing but a floor, she felt some slight air coming out from the ground. Thalia grabbed her spear and turned back to the Hunters.

She took two fingers and gestured downwards twice. Thalia jumped off the landing and into the architectural site. She wrapped a cloth around her nose and mouth as well while the rest of her Hunters entered the area. The walls seemed to be old marble and concrete. The Hunters circled the area, until Reyna spoke.

"I fong susmlkthign," Reyna hissed.

Jackie leaned in. "What?"

"I fong sumlknims," Reyna repeated.

Jackie shook her head. "What are you saying?!"

Reyna pulled down her cloth. "I said I found something! Look."

The Hunters moved towards Reyna and saw a puddle of dried blood in a small indentation in the ground. It looked like a tiny pool for blood.

Reyna looked at Thalia. "Blood pact, perhaps?"

Thalia frowned. "Maybe…"

Thalia put her hand perpendicular to the indentation. She took the end of her spear and slowly sliced her hand open. Thalia squeezed out a drop of blood and guided it to hit the rest of the dried blood in the indentation. Thalia began to feel woozy; she was never a fan of fresh blood. Dried blood, she could do. Fresh blood was something different.

As the blood drop hit, the indentation turned inside out, the ground gave out, and the Hunters found themselves falling through the air.

Thalia landed on her feet, but the impact nearly destroyed her knees. Some of the Hunters were not so graceful, as Jackson landed on Hunter. Jackson scrambled up while muttering creative combinations of apologies and curses.

Thalia looked around; they were in a corridor. The corridor seemed to be made of rusted bronze. On the walls were glowing hieroglyphs of Greek gods and symbols, seemingly woven together with glowing silver weavings that continued down the shadowy hall.

Thalia looked behind her, got the thumbs up from Hunter, and heard a muffled, "I'm good!"

Thalia heard footsteps approaching.

Thalia readied her spear and crouched down behind Aegis Spartan-style. She heard the Hunters preparing their weapons as well.

A group of cloaked individuals came out of the shadows and stopped about twenty feet away. From their body language, Thalia could tell that they were armed, but they were not fighters. She straightened up and pulled down her cloth. "Oh, good, you're here."

Thalia began to count the number of cloaked individuals she could see. "One, two, three, four…"

One of the cloaked individuals stepped forward and spoke in a strangled whisper. "Are you here to serve Arachne?"

"Five, six, seven, eight…"

The individual repeated, in a more irritated tone this time, "Are you here to SERVE Arachne?"

"Nine, ten…ten! Wow! That's perfect."

Thalia knew she had to somehow get behind them to trap them between her and the Hunters. Otherwise, one of them could easily run away and get help. The smell was getting strong, so she knew she had to do this quickly.

Thalia did the calculations regarding what angle she needed to execute this at. She then took Aegis, stood it on its side, and rolled it in front of her like Jason used to roll coins on desks. She followed it as it rolled and watched as Aegis' influence took hold. The followers began to cringe and duck away from Aegis. This made a clear path for Thalia to advance through their group until she passed the tenth & last one. She then picked up Aegis and swung it at the tenth member, connecting with their head with a _CLANG! _The follower's body crumpled to the ground.

The rest of the Hunters attacked. They unloaded a volley of sedative-tipped arrows into most of the followers while Thalia swung her spear like a baseball bat at the last one standing. With a _crack, _the figure fell hard.

"Not bad, you all. Just one thing- Reyna, when shooting your arrows at people who are not monsters, we usually go for non-lethal unless we're fighting for our lives," Thalia said as she removed an arrow that was dangerously close to a follower's heart.

Reyna stood up straight. "Yes, ma'am."

The Hunters heard a _boom _in the distance. Thalia looked down the dark corridor and back at her Hunters. She collapsed Aegis into her bracelet. "Ten of you, stay behind and line yourselves up on either side of this hall. Grab your arrows and get in position. Anybody or anything but us tries to leave this place, light them up. Nine of you, grab these cloaks and put them on."

Hunter, Reyna, Jackson, Naomi, Alex, Morgan, Jackie, Heather, Kiara, and Thalia stepped forward and began to relieve the bodies on the ground of their cloaks. Thalia snatched a cloak off one of the bodies on the ground, only to reveal a Telekhine.

For some reason, seeing it caught her off guard; it wasn't just humans attempting to bring Arachne back. Thalia threw on the cloak and almost gagged from the smell; apparently, this guy hadn't used deodorant in a while. She took this opportunity to wrap the cloth around her face once more.

She threw on the hood. "I guess we're about to crash a party."

Jackie tilted her head. "What?"

Thalia shook her head and continued down the hall. The smell was now permeating their very being, even through the cloth. Thalia couldn't help but look at the hieroglyphs on the wall; she had never seen Egyptian art portray Greek aspects before. It seemed...wrong.

After a few minutes of walking, they walked into a large circular room the size of a baseball field. This area was filled with about two hundred more followers, all chanting in a language that Thalia did not recognize. In the front of the room was a midnight black coffin adorned with the same kinds of silver weavings that were on the walls. Thalia noticed that the weavings seemed to lead from the walls onto the floor and continue until they reached the coffin. If this was not in service to bring back one of the most fearsome monsters of Greek mythology, Thalia would've thought it was cool.

The coffin was open, and they were able to see a bubbling luminescent white mass growing from inside the coffin. As Thalia and her Hunters watched, the white mass stretched, darkened, and hardened until it formed a large, muscular, hairy leg.

Thalia put her spear on her back and looked at the Hunters. She pulled her cloth up slightly. "Now or never."

Simultaneously, Thalia and her Hunters revealed their bows and began shooting arrows into the crowd of unsuspecting followers. One by one, the followers began to go down as they were knocked out by the powerful drug tipped arrows. Pandemonium erupted as the followers tried to figure out where the attacks were coming from. Every shot Thalia released felt as easy as pressing a big red button; it was impossible to miss. With each follower down, Thalia noticed Arachne's growth faltering little by little. The followers quickly began to catch on and track the location of the Hunters, and began to attack. Thalia noticed that some of them were armed while others were not.

While shooting her arrows, she sensed her Hunters moving towards her to form a circle.

Thalia sighed. Hunters only took that formation when they felt like they were outnumbered. Even though there were a lot of followers, none of them were real threats.

None of them were fighters.

Not like her.

She heard a voice in her head say, _Hunt, Thalia. Go to work. _

Then, something happened. Thalia felt her adrenaline beginning to pump with each arrow she let fly. Her vision began to blur as her battle cries turned into laughter. The dark air took on a slightly blue tinge. On impulse, Thalia tossed aside her bow and arrow and took out her spear.

Naomi cried out, "Thalia!"

Thalia ignored Naomi and broke the circle by charging the followers. One follower tried to throw themselves at Thalia, and she sidestepped. As she sidestepped, she shifted her spear to her left hand and threw it so it impaled another follower. Thalia felt her body in flow; where her body was moving by pure instinct and muscle memory. Thalia turned to kick the follower she sidestepped, threw another attacking from her left, elbowed someone else coming from behind, then threw Aegis like a frisbee into another's chest. Aegis hit them with a _clang _so strong that the follower went flying a few feet. Thalia grabbed her spear from the body she impaled, ripped it out the body, and then swung it at another follower's neck, cracking it and knocking them out. She grinned- that was one of her favorite moves.

Thalia headbutted one, flipped over another while grabbing onto their cloak, and threw them into another while scooping Aegis once more. Thalia smiled and twirled her spear and thrust it into the ground, creating a controlled explosion of force and lightning that stunned the five or so followers closest to her.

"THALIA!"

Thalia turned to see Reyna shooting arrows at the coffin. Thalia looked to see Arachne nearly fully formed. She was attempting to stand to her full height, convulsing as she got taller and taller. One hooded individual was running towards the coffin. In desperation, Thalia turned and tapped into her emotions. Her spear subsequently charged with lightning, and Thalia hefted it like a javelin. It impaled the coffin, halting the hooded individual in their tracks. Upon impact, the spear discharged a blast of lightning and sliced through the coffin. The glowing weave design dimmed, and the formation of Arachne faltered.

Like someone had stopped time, everyone was still for a few seconds. Everyone was looking towards the coffin. Arachne was posed as if she was frozen in time whilst her human-like half was contorted backwards. She looked like a grotesque, unfinished, hyper-realistic Greek statue of herself.

Reyna quickly threw a smoke capsule, which exploded and produced a thick enough smoke to obscure the vision of those around the Hunters.

_What is she doing? _Thalia was cooking with anger. Now wasn't the time to run. Now was the time to stop this.

She saw a space clear of smoke about ten steps away. She nocked another arrow and began to head out of the area of effect. Hunter, however, restrained her from doing so. Annoyed, Thalia was about to give Hunter a light static shock when Naomi tackled both Hunter and Thalia back into the corridor they came from. They were able to just make their way out of the corridor when Thalia saw Arachne open her eyes.

Arachne's large, animalistic, pure black eyes. As they took cover in the corridor, Thalia could only hear Arachne inhale, prompting a deafening explosion of cheers in the space.

They failed. Thalia failed.

Thalia heard (and smelled) Arachne step out of the coffin in the midst of the victorious cheering and chanting. The cheers suddenly stopped, and Thalia heard a whispery voice that sounded like pasta boiling. "Bring me that weapon."

Thalia saw one of the followers run into her line of sight to grab the smoke bomb and run back out of view. Thalia took her bow off her back and was gripping it. She had heard horror stories from Annabeth about this thing. She was _not _going to see if it lives up to the legend.

Thalia heard a collage of noises that sounded like hacking, spitting, and barfing. Thalia sensed something was coming towards them.

It wasn't a person, though.

The smoke canister landed in the entrance of the corridor.

Thalia yelled behind her cloth, "SCATTER!"

Thankfully, her Hunters seemed to understand. Thalia and the Hunters dove away from the canister as it exploded, releasing light green gas that somehow smelled even worse than Arachne herself. The rest of the Hunters used their cloth to cover their eyes. Once Thalia saw all her Hunters were safe, she closed her eyes and readied her bow.

Thalia then heard the quick-paced skittering she imagined Arachne's footsteps to sound like. "Now that the little huntresses are occupied, it's time, my children."

Thalia wanted to see what was going on. However, she couldn't afford to have Hunter pull another NFL move on her, lest they give away their position.

_They can't see me anyway. _

Thalia slowly advanced through the green smoke, and opened her eyes. It was like voluntarily pouring hydrochloric acid into her eyes. Almost immediately, her eyes burned and teared up. Thalia tried to focus her vision, though. She had one chance to do this.

Thalia reached the opening of the corridor and slowly leaned around the corner. Arachne was still not fully formed, as some of her body was sagging and drooping like melted cheese. However, she could still move some of her legs, which allowed her to move around. Arachne had moved to the center of the room, and watched as about twenty of her followers yanked a pulley that removed a circular trapdoor from the ceiling. Thalia looked up and saw that the trapdoor led straight into the open air.

Arachne lifted her head up and smiled, showing off a gruesome set of large needles for teeth.

"Athena, my old enemy. Hear me," she said. Now that Thalia was closer, her voice was just as intoxicating as the smell she gave off.

"I challenge you once more. You thought you beat me for good and, yet, here I am. So, this is my proposition, you coward. I challenge you to a weaving contest. One last one. You and me. If I win, I get your most talented child. The child who almost bested me. Almost! "

Thalia had to grab the wall to steady herself while her eyes were being tortured. _Is she talking about Annabeth?!_

Thunder rumbled in the distance. The air turned frigid. Thalia half-expected Zeus to open up the skies and obliterate Arachne.

Arachne _tsk-tsk_ed. "Ah, ah. If you kill me right now, you won't be able to say you beat me. I hear that I am your biggest controversy. Your biggest failure. Your only loss. Even your child believes that I am better than you at weaving. Show them that they are wrong. If I lose, I will willingly return to Tartarus for all time."

Arachne circled the center of the room like she was a defense lawyer. "I will not curse you nor any of your children. I will immediately cease any and all endeavors. And, I will admit, in front of the grandest stage that you can create, that YOU are the most premiere, wise, and wonderful goddess."

Thalia felt wind blow through the trap door and through the corridor. The wind cleared out some of the toxin in the air, relieving Thalia's eyes just slightly.

_Come on, Artemis. Control her. _

"Take back your seat of power with the Olympians. Take back your dignity. Earn their respect. Unless...you recognize that you are incapable of beating me."

Instantly, a bright light appeared in the cavern as if the sun decided to pay a visit. Thalia thought she was dead for a second, but instead, she opened her eyes to see most of the followers in the room disintegrated. In their place was a tall woman in black and gray robes. She shined with power, and even from the corridor, Thalia could see the woman's powerful gray eyes.

Arachne smiled. It was now Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who was circling Arachne. The old enemies were silent for a while.

Thalia could have taken the tension in her room, folded it up, and put it in her pocket.

Finally, Arachne jumped in. "No armor?"

Athena scoffed. "I do not need armor when dealing with lesser beings."

Arachne only turned her head to follow Athena.

"You could have killed me at any point while I was talking, and I'm still here. Does that mean we have a deal?"

Athena stopped walking. "The only reason I am not ripping you apart for threatening my child is that you have given a proposition that has a guaranteed outcome. I will win. And when I win, you must also announce that you owe your weaving skill to me."

Thalia's heart dropped like she was riding on Artemis' chariot. _What? What did she just say? _

_What about Annabeth?_

Arachne snarled in response. Athena shook her head.

Thalia could barely keep her eyes open; the poison had thickened once more.

Athena said with nothing but derision in her voice, "Say it, spider."

Arachne chittered, "And...that I owe my _glorious _weaving talent to you."

Athena stopped walking. "Swear on the River."

"I swear on the River Styx." Thunder boomed in the background.

Thalia had to shut her eyes or else her eyes would have popped out her sockets. Tears flowed freely from the noxious gas.

She heard Athena say, "Come then, spider. The Muses will serve as the judges this time, rather than a crowd of mortals."

With a flash of light, Thalia no longer smelled Arachne or heard Athena. Thalia opened her eyes with difficulty, walked into the room, and ripped her spear out from the coffin. She then pivoted and re-traced her footsteps to get to her Hunters. She helped them up and rushed to meet the other Hunters at the end of the corridor.

Even though her eyes were shut, Thalia heard a whistle in the air and felt the space bend around her. Thalia instinctively put her hand up to catch an arrow that one of the Hunters shot at them. She ripped off the cloak and the cloth covering her face. "It's me, damn it!"

Felicia put down her bow and arrow and said in a mousy voice, "Oh...sorry."

Thalia helped them climb out so they were out on the side of the Erechtheum once more. Thalia cursed when she saw that Artemis' chariot was gone.

Thalia, with fire in her eyes, looked to her Hunters. "Annabeth's in danger. We need to find her, now."

Reyna removed her cloak. "Where is she?"

Thalia took a few moonwater drops and put in her eyes. Her eyes sizzled for a bit, but her vision cleared up. Thalia prayed she didn't get an infection.

Thalia thought for a minute and let her eyes fall to the Acropolis. "Probably with Percy."


	2. Cursed

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Percy

As Percy made a right onto Lincoln road, he started the song over. He knew he would probably wake his passenger up if he started singing, but he thought it was only appropriate.

"_There's a road I'd like to tell you about, lives in my hometown. Montauk Beach the road is called, and it'll take you up or down. From rats on up to riches, fifteen minutes you can fly. Pretty blue lights along the way, help you right on by," _Percy sung as he turned onto Monroe Drive.

"_And the blue lights shining with a heavenly grace, help you right on by,_" he finished as he straightened the wheel out. Even though the windows were down and wind was blaring through the old car, his singing was still just loud enough.

Annabeth stirred and chuckled sleepily as Percy badly imitated the instruments. "Nice remix. I didn't know the original song said Montauk Beach. I always thought it was something like...Lake Shore Drive? Maybe? Or do I have that wrong?"

Percy didn't fight the smile that spread across his face. He was nearly exploding with excitement to take Annabeth to Montauk for the first time, somewhere he hadn't been since he and his mother went years ago. It had been a crazy couple years, with some very sad moments. Percy still found himself getting sad sometimes, even during the happy times. It was like those times of happiness were contaminated with an intersection of mourning and guilt. During those times, Percy wouldn't be able to shake the thought that he doesn't deserve to be smiling as much as he was when so many of their friends were not around to smile with him.

Percy and Annabeth had not only survived, though, but they finally had some time to breathe. Despite scratching his head through half of his college career, Percy and Annabeth had both somehow graduated with respective oceanology and architecture degrees.

The oceanology degree was _not _his idea.

They proceeded to do Frank and Hazel a favor by spending the summer after graduation to act as orientation leaders for the University of New Rome's incoming cohort of demigods and legacies. The job was not hard at all; it wasn't too different from being camp counselors for Camp Half-Blood. Both jobs basically included herding a bunch of powerful teenagers around, answering weird questions, and getting a few people in the back to shut up.

The end of the summer, however, marked the time to start searching for jobs and to maybe look for apartments together. The end of the summer also marked Percy's birthday season. Annabeth mentioned while they had their last three orientations on August 17-19, they could take a road trip to Montauk from August 20-22 as a late birthday present. Finally, that trip was here.

About 43 hours and 3,000 miles later, they were finally turning in.

Annabeth sat up with a groan. "You know, I think it's 'rags on up to riches,' not 'rats.'"

Percy looked over at Annabeth. She looked so comfortable that Percy was almost jealous. Her seat was reclined back, and she had a fuzzy gray blanket over her. Her shoes were resting on the dash. Annabeth's sunglasses were perched on top of her head, accenting her ocean of curly blonde hair. She had started to grow it out over the past year, and Percy was _not _complaining. She wore a big white shirt, ripped jeans, Adidas sneakers, and a light windbreaker. Annabeth's hand rested on her head, and her father's ring glinted in the sunlight. Her Camp Half-Blood necklace, for the first time in a while, was tucked into her shirt rather than out for all to see. Salman Rushdie's book, _Midnight's Children, _lay three-quarters open in her lap.

When she saw him looking at her, she smiled. Percy could not fathom how she could have gotten even _more _beautiful over the years. It was that smile, those eyes that pulled him out of the Styx. He couldn't be more grateful.

Percy cleared his throat. "Uh...I think it is rats on up to riches. That's what the great Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah intended. Trust me, I know these things."

Annabeth stretched. "Yeah? How exactly do _you _know what they intended? And why would it be rats on up to riches in the first place? The phrase is 'rags to riches.' Rats doesn't even make any sense."

"I'm from New York. From rats to riches sounds like a pretty large improvement on the quality of life," Percy muttered.

"Whatever," she laughed.

Percy hooked a left onto Old Montauk Highway. He could see the water in the distance, and he felt all the stress evaporate. It seemed like the same salty ocean breeze that had first greeted him as a kid. It was like seeing an old friend.

When the song got towards the end, Percy heard Annabeth humming, "_And there ain't no road just like it, anywhere I found." _

She then sung, "_Running south on Montauk Beach, heading into town. Just snaking on by on LSD, Friday night trouble bound."_

Percy grinned. Annabeth played with his hair as he searched for a place to park.

Then, it hit him. "You ever notice that this song is about LSD?"

Annabeth stopped playing with his hair. "Percy. LSD stands for 'Lake Shore Drive.' Not LSD, like _acid._"

If minds could explode, Percy's did at that moment. "What?!"

Annabeth seemed to have trouble closing her mouth. "You thought they were talking about the drug?"

"Yes…?"

"How long have you known this song?"

"Six years."

"You thought they were talking about acid for _six years_?!"

"Look, it's an easy mistake! I mean, 'just snaking on by on LSD, Friday night trouble bound?' What else would you be doing that would get you in trouble on Friday night?"

Annabeth closed her book. "You know, it was rumored that drugs like acid and weed helped mortals..._er, _people...see through all the different kinds of Mists that other religions have?"

"You mean like when people hallucinate and have those trippy visions?"

Annabeth nodded and packed her bag. "Yeah, I heard that that's the human mind beginning to become aware of the higher worlds. Not just Greek, though. Those kinds of drugs can't necessarily control or filter what kinds of things people see. As a result, people may end up seeing or feeling things from Christianity, Egyptian, Buddhism, all those things. They see or feel it all, just in different ways. They may see demons and ghosts, but may also be able to feel the flow of _qi _in the world- whereas they would have previously been incapable of comprehending such things. That's the psychoactive effects taking place. However, the mind can only process it so long as it's affected and changed by the drug itself. Once it wears off, the mortal mind begins to shut those images out to bring them back to this reality."

Percy shook his head. He remembered being in high school and hearing stories about kids who took LSD and, suddenly, understood the universe.

"Huh. Maybe Hunter really did touch God that day."

Annabeth snorted. "Yeah, I bet."

Percy pulled up to the rental cabin. It was the same old brown cabin that he remembered staying in with his mother, only a little bit smaller. The gravel popped as he stopped and parked the car. They had gotten there as sunset was ending, but the cloudy sky was still golden and purple as if the gods were waiting for them to arrive before they let the sun fully set.

Even though the sun was setting, Percy couldn't look away from Annabeth.

"Wow," Annabeth said as she looked from him to the sea green water. "I see why you loved this place."

Percy watched the light in Annabeth's eyes turn her eight years old again. For a second, Percy wished that Annabeth had never met him.

Percy wished she had a normal life. Not that she wasn't great, but he wished that, at eight years old, she would have been taking trips to the beach rather than killing monsters with hammers. Part of him wished that Annabeth had a normal life, and that she was the typical California kid that he initially thought she was; one who went to the beaches all the time, who hiked up mountains, and who enjoyed eating avocado toast or whatever Californians ate.

Then again, if that happened...Annabeth would not be who she was today if she was "normal." Percy knew since even before Yancy Academy that he was not "normal." Whatever "normal" meant.

Percy sat on the hood of the car. Annabeth leaned against him and pulled his arms around her. They stayed there until night fell. Even though he had blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, blue corn chips, and blue s'mores packed for the trip, he somehow knew that this night would be the favorite night of the weekend.

After the sky turned a dark blue, Percy and Annabeth made a fire. Even though it was technically still August, the breeze showed them that fall had come early this year.

Annabeth's hair blew with the wind.

"I'm glad I brought my jacket. I told you that you should bring one," she teased.

As they sat around the fire, a few thoughts crawled through Percy's head. Annabeth finished a marshmallow and grabbed a bottle of water. "What's on your mind?"

Percy looked into the fire and thought of Hestia. _Home. _

"My mother used to tell me stories here. Stories of when she was a kid."

Percy turned his s'more around in his hands. "I used to think she was even worse-behaved than me, from the stories she would share. Just for a second, I would see that rebellious streak in her. The streak that would get her into fights, or that would intimidate a creepy guy at the subway."

Annabeth gave a small smile. "Maybe that's what drew Poseidon to her. You know the gods like strength and wisdom, and all that."

The fire burned. Percy couldn't take his eyes off it. "It's not even that she was just strong or wise. She was _resilient. _Anything life threw at her, she'd knock out of the park with a baseball bat of determination and will."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Look at you, getting the literary genes from your mother. That was a quality metaphor."

Percy finally looked up from the fire to meet Annabeth's eyes. Somehow, it was an even more captivating sight than the flames.

Annabeth held his gaze. "That's not the only thing you get from your mother, though."

Percy had a hard time believing he got anything from the best person in the world.

Annabeth said, deadly serious, "You got her resolve and resiliency as well."

Percy thought about all those who had fallen in battle. "I don't know if I'm as strong as you think I am. If I was, maybe..."

Annabeth stood and sat next to him, lacing her fingers in his. "Ah. Stop that. You can't say anything like that. You've literally been to Tartarus and back. Your fatal flaw literally has to do with saving people. You have faced gods. And that is not hyperbole. You are strong. And you are-"

Annabeth lightly pushed Percy's chest with her finger. "-_good." _

The heat from the fire started to increase in intensity, almost burning his face. Percy thought of what they had seen in Tartarus, and he instinctively turned his head away from the fire and to the sea.

"Sorry," Annabeth muttered, as if she could tell what he was thinking.

The water crashed, unbothered by the small fire in front of it.

"You know I have never read any of my mother's writing?"

"Really? None of it?"

Percy shook his head. His mother would always be too embarrassed to show him, even when he asked. "She'd tell me that I'd read it when it was on the bookshelves in libraries."

Annabeth nodded. "Still haven't seen it yet, have you?"

Percy shook his head. With Estelle, Paul, and Percy, his mother had stalled her writing and took up work as an editor. She always said to be an author, you needed true, intrinsic motivation. For her, intrinsic motivation came from being centered mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and financially. Whenever she was centered in one, though, another would go right down the drain.

"Well," Annabeth said as she leaned back on the log. "I'm sure she's great. I wish she was my mom. Athena's great and all, but...I kind of feel like she's more of a coach or a strict teacher who wants the best for me. Part of me just wanted a mother to take me to soccer practice, you know?"

Percy felt his gut relaxing rather than the tugging it takes to control the water. Rather, it seemed more like the water was controlling _him, _pushing and pulling with the waves.

He felt a weird sensation that prompted him to train his vision east. When Percy did so, he thought he saw something in the water. It looked too small to be a cruise ship, but too big to be an animal. It had a glowing light on the front of it and it sailed towards shore rapidly.

Percy noticed Annabeth stand up. "Do you see that?"

Percy squinted. It was coming up _fast. _"Yeah, I see that."

He reached into his pocket and thumbed Riptide. He was surprised that he didn't feel irritated, angry, or even scared. He felt adrenaline and..._power._

_You could sink that boat right now. _

Percy shook his head. The voice in his head seemed like it was not his own. It barely seemed like a voice, though- it was like it was vibrating through his very core.

_What was that? _

Percy frantically flipped through thoughts of Estelle, which always relaxed him.

The object arrived at shore after about a few minutes later. Percy turned to Annabeth, who was wielding the bag of graham crackers. She turned and nodded to him. Percy knew that Annabeth's knife was somewhere in the car, but it would take too long to find it. Annabeth probably felt the same way too, which is why she settled for perhaps the most tasty demigod weapon Percy had ever seen.

The two of them walked up to the object in the night. Percy had Riptide out, but in its pen form. Annabeth had wrapped the large graham crackers bag around in her fist, almost to make a s'mores themed boxing glove.

As they got closer, they not only saw that it was a small raft, but that there were people on the raft. About twenty high school-aged girls were dismounting. Five of the girls immediately drew bows and arrows on Percy specifically as he approached.

He stopped in his tracks. He hadn't had a bow pulled on him since New Rome's last training session.

_Wait...a bow? _

A tall girl, about 5'9, with short black hair stepped off the raft. She was wearing a silver parka, along with a black athletic shirt, black pants, and hunting boots with silver lacing. She was wringing some water out of some cloth, and wore a pin that indicated that she was the lieutenant for the Hunters of Artemis. When she looked up, her bright blue eyes shined in recognition. The air began to electrify and smell of ozone.

"Thalia?!" Annabeth asked.

Thalia walked up like she was going to tackle both Percy and Annabeth. Instead, she pulled them both into a hug that almost cracked Percy's back. "Thank the gods you're safe."

Annabeth slowly patted Thalia on the back and gave Percy a look like, _What's going on? _

Percy shrugged. Usually, it was a nice surprise to see Thalia. Now, however, she seemed genuinely shaken up. Percy looked towards the Hunters, who all stood in formation like Power Rangers. Their expressions made Percy want to keep Riptide out just in case this was an ambush. They all had identical scowls except for one close to the middle. Her expression was nearly unreadable.

Percy gave her a wave. "Hey, Reyna!"

Reyna cleared her throat and looked to the ground. "Hello, Percy Jackson."

She had grown more muscular and toned during her time in the Hunters, and her hair was pulled back into two long braids. Her militaristic attitude remained intact, as if she was ready to lead the Spartans into battle. Percy couldn't help but think that she and Zoe would have gotten along.

Thalia stepped back from the hug and gave a crooked smile. She looked like she had aged a few years as well, which Percy was confused about.

"Hey, Thalia. Um…"

Thalia seemed to know what he was going to address. She opened her mouth, and then closed it. "I'll explain another time. Hopefully, for burgers at McHale's?"

Percy grinned in confirmation. He loved McHale's.

Thalia looked at the two of them, and her smile faded. "We have to-"

Her gaze trained on something on Annabeth's person. Annabeth frowned. "What are you-"

In a movement so quick that Percy didn't even have time to react, Thalia executed a karate chop that brushed the side of Annabeth's neck. It would've hit Annabeth square in the throat if she hadn't dodged at the last second.

Annabeth gripped her neck. "What...in..._Hades..._was that for," Annabeth said through gritted teeth.

"It's happening, it's happening," Thalia kept muttering over and over again. She brandished her bow and nocked three arrows. She had an expression of pure fear.

Annabeth backed away from Thalia. "What's happening?!"

Percy saw something black move up Annabeth's neck. He got a little closer and saw that it was a large, hairy, black spider.

Percy's mouth went dry. The air got uncomfortably warm like the fire had moved right in front of his face. "Uh, Annabeth? There's a...um…"

Thalia jumped in, "A spider! On your neck!"

Annabeth yelped and brushed it off. Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth watched it fall to the ground. Percy stepped back from it while Thalia lifted her foot, hesitated, and then stepped on it.

"Ugh," she uttered.

Then, something else happened. It sounded like raindrops were falling, except they weren't falling to the ground. They were coming _up. _Instead of raindrops, however, it was spiders. There were at least three hundred spiders of all different sizes, colors, builds, and types that crawled out of the sand. The Hunters began to shoot streams of arrows at the spiders, with pretty good aim as well. Each shot seemed to kill at least two spiders.

Percy uncapped Riptide and the bronze blade sprung to life. He began to play Whack-A-Spider with the arachnids, trying to avoid cutting off Thalia's toes as he whacked. Percy watched, in horror, as the spiders stopped skittering at once. They all turned towards Annabeth like clock hands being adjusted, then rushed towards her. Percy and Thalia tried to attack the spiders, but were ultimately powerless to stop it. Annabeth was swarmed with a dark wave of spiders. The spiders knocked her to the ground as she writhed, screamed, and swung the bag of graham crackers.

"NO!" Percy screamed and dove into the fray. He felt spiders crawl all over him as he reached for Annabeth's flailing hand. He endured several bites on his arm and hand, but arrows would take out each one that bit him. Then, Percy felt multiple gusts of wind circle around him and into a mini-tornado. The sheer force of the wind was beginning to pick Percy off the ground. Before he got too far up, Percy managed to grab onto Annabeth's wrist. He held onto her as the wind pulled them out of the cocoon of spiders and ripped the remaining spiders off Annabeth. Percy and Annabeth flew twenty feet in the air, floating towards the water.

He saw Thalia closing her eyes with her hands out. The wind pulled him and Annabeth right at the shoreline, about forty feet from the raft.

The air drafts finally dispersed, allowing Percy and Annabeth to fall safely by the water. Percy scrambled to hold Annabeth, but her body was convulsing slightly. Her eyes were rolled back. He couldn't see any spider bites based on his initial observations, but something was wrong with her that had her shaking like that.

Percy looked up to see Reyna throw a Molotov cocktail-type weapon, which hit the sea of now confused and scattered spiders. The weapon exploded into Greek fire. Some of the spiders were burned alive, while others simply began to regroup elsewhere.

Thalia caught his eye. She gestured wildly towards the raft. "GO! They can't swim!"

Percy watched in horror as the mass of spiders did the clock-hand turn again, and then headed towards Annabeth. Percy knew if he tried to drag Annabeth to the raft, they would be intercepted by some of the spiders. The raft wouldn't be effective at all if the spiders chewed it and them up for dinner.

In desperation, Percy pushed his hand out towards the water to call the raft to him. He felt it respond to him, like the feeling he got when he would call someone and they immediately pick up. His concentration was broken, though, when the ground began to shake violently. His legs gave out from under him. He fell to the ground with Annabeth as the ground exploded.

A disgusting creature arose from the ground about fifty feet away. Percy smelled her before he saw her. She smelled of honey buns and rotten flesh.

Then, he saw her. He recognized her from the split second when he and Annabeth encountered her in Tartarus.

"Arachne," Percy growled. Anger washed over him. He never got a chance to thank her for what she did to Annabeth. He gripped Riptide so hard that he was sure his knuckles were turning white.

Arachne, like a gross human-spider centaur, gave a disgusting smile of nothing but needles. Her insect-like eyes crinkled with the smile. The spiders stopped chasing Annabeth and retreated back towards their mother, crawling all over her.

When she spoke, Percy found that his mind began to focus on one thing for the first time in a while; his usually hyperactive mind focused on her sickly sweet voice. He could tell why Annabeth had frozen up in Tartarus when Arachne pounced on her.

"Little Athena-spawn...Athena's most talented child and prized possession. More valued than Aegis. More cunning than Daedalus. A better leader than Erikthonius. Annabeth Chase. You are _mine._" Arachne began to creep closer to them, and Percy got a better view of her.

Her body was that of a monstrous black spider, with red markings on her abdomen. Some of her body looked melted, as if she was the source of a new disgusting dip. Her large mandibles shook with excitement. Her top set of eyes darted back and forth between Percy and Annabeth like a kid opening Christmas gifts, while her bottom set of eyes was focused on Annabeth.

Arachne's smell paralyzed him, and based on the lack of the arrows buffeting Arachne, he could assumed that it was probably happening to the Hunters as well. Suddenly, three spiders as big as Percy's car climbed out of the ground and followed behind Arachne. Percy began to feel hopeless as Arachne got closer.

_I lost. _

A feral scream snapped Percy back to reality, and an arrow flew in front of Arachne's face. Arachne blinked, and paused, turning towards the source of the shot. Percy did the same, to see Thalia struggling to nock another arrow. Unfortunately, Thalia looked like she had taken a _lot _of LSD. She was swaying back and forth and stumbling around the beach while the rest of her Hunters seemed paralyzed.

The smell was throwing the Hunters off-balance.

That was the kick in the butt he needed, though- Percy summoned a ten-foot wave to rise from the water and crash down on Arachne. The wave knocked Arachne off her feet and doused the Hunters in some spray as well. That seemed to be enough to wake them up, and they started attacking the three large spiders.

Percy felt Annabeth stir, and exhaled in relief as she stood to her feet.

_Thank the gods. _

Annabeth blinked a few times, locked eyes with Arachne, and put up her hands like she was ready to box. "Oh...she's back."

Percy looked at Annabeth, and held out Riptide. "Take it."

Annabeth looked at him. "What will you use?"

Percy tapped his temples. "My greatest weapon. My mind."

Annabeth laughed, and even in this crisis, that laugh reminded him of what he was fighting for. It was the same laugh that saved him from the Cocytus.

Annabeth grabbed the hilt of Riptide and, together, they attacked Arachne. Annabeth hit a baseball slide as she swiped at Arachne's legs. Percy shot a concentrated jet of seawater towards Arachne. It hit her in the face, making her thrash wildly. Percy took a page from Thalia's book and used the water to spin it around in a tiny vortex around Arachne's eyes. This seemed to successfully block her sight, giving Annabeth an advantage.

Annabeth popped up from her slide and stabbed Arachne's abdomen with Riptide. Arachne gave a piercing shriek, and one of her legs instinctively shot out. It grabbed Annabeth and flung her away. Percy's water vortex disappeared when Arachne began chasing after Annabeth. Percy ran after her and jumped on her back. He held onto her shifting furry hide, and made eye contact with Annabeth. She grabbed the flat of the blade and threw Riptide on a frozen rope, hilt first.

In one motion, Percy caught the blade and brought it down in a golden arc. Arachne moved her head at the last second, so Percy sliced out one of her eyes rather than cutting off her head. Arachne screamed as green and red blood poured from where her eye used to be. She then did something that caught Percy off guard.

She jumped.

Arachne used her legs to jump into the air and execute a flip. Percy held on for dear life, but quickly found that was the wrong move. He hit the ground hard, and Arachne landed on him. The wind was knocked out of him, and he struggled to get up. Arachne swiped Riptide from his hand and tried to use it to stab Percy. Percy barely caught the blade before it could pierce him. If he wasn't fighting for his life, he'd be impressed his reflexes were still so good.

Arachne was strong, though, and Percy's arms were shaking as he tried to hold her back. He felt Riptide pierce his hands. Blood began to stream out of his hands as the blade slowly inched towards his eye.

He heard a whistle. Arachne looked up to see Annabeth jump off her abdomen and flip over her head. Arachne opened her mouth for something; Percy assumed it was to roar or spit or deliver some more bad breath.

Whatever the reason, Annabeth took that opportunity to throw the huge bag of graham crackers into Arachne's disgusting mouth. The velocity at which Annabeth threw the bag was too much for Arachne to keep up with. The bag forced its way down her throat, prompting Arachne to stagger back while clutching her throat. Riptide nearly dropped from her hand as she stumbled.

Annabeth helped Percy up. "I'll buy you some more later."

Percy and Annabeth looked towards Arachne, only to see her clutching her chest and her eye. Annabeth looked at Percy. "Let's finish this?"

Percy nodded. He felt the wolf come out in him. Something in him told him to tear Arachne apart slowly, so she could feel every tendril of skin pulling from each other.

Percy and Annabeth crept towards Arachne as she retreated from them. They started to jog as they advanced towards her. Percy, out of the corner of his eye, saw Thalia shoot a lightning bolt and kill one of the large spiders. Reyna took inspiration from Annabeth while fighting the second spider. She expertly forced the creature to swallow a Greek fire bomb, however, rather than graham crackers. Percy saw the spider shake as its thorax and abdomen glowed green. It then fell down as the fire burned it from the inside out. The other Hunters were working on the last spider.

They were winning. Rather, they were surviving.

Thalia turned to check on Percy and Annabeth, and saw them creeping towards Arachne. Thalia then began to run towards Arachne as well, as if to say, _Oh, no. You all are not going to leave me out of the fun. _

While Percy was distracted, a tendril of webbing attached itself to his leg. Before he could look down, he was pulled forward so hard that he fell on his back and began to slide on the sand towards the choking and now-foaming Arachne. Annabeth's hand shot out and grabbed Percy's wrist.

For a second, Annabeth and Arachne were in the most painful tug-of-war that Percy had ever participated in. Percy felt like his bones were about to pop. Annabeth started to lose her grip, and her hold slipped from Percy's wrist to his fingers. Percy saw Thalia yell and threw her spear towards Arachne.

Percy, for a moment, thought that was the end of Arachne. Few things or beings have experienced the end of Thalia's spear and lived to tell the tale.

However, a bright light and clap of thunder erupted near Arachne as if she had exploded. The light almost blinded Percy, and he barely shut his eyes in time. When he opened them back up, the sight before him almost made him close and open his eyes again. A fierce Amazon seemed to have entered the fray.

Rather, it wasn't an Amazon. It was a tall, battle-ready woman that glowed with divine power. The woman's hair was tied back, and she was dressed in black and gray armor. Her gray eyes almost glowed white. Her jaw was clenched with irritation.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom, had arrived on the battlefield.

She was standing in front of Arachne in full battle armor, and seemed to have caught Thalia's spear.

Percy heard Annabeth's voice behind him, "Mom?"

Percy was about to celebrate Athena's arrival when Annabeth stopped pulling.

She forgot to let go of Percy, though.

Subsequently, one savagely strong pull from Arachne resulted in both Percy and Annabeth sliding across the sand towards Arachne. In a maneuver that could only be executed by having eight arms, Arachne used a few of her limbs to toss aside the webbing and the poor demigod attached to it. One more of her limbs sliced through Annabeth's grip on Percy, while a few more grabbed Annabeth and held her against Arachne herself. One more limb held Riptide to Annabeth's throat.

Percy landed hard on the ground and scrambled to his feet. He tore Arachne's webbing off him, making sure not to repeat Annabeth's mistake in the past. One strand of webbing could result in them tumbling down a hole straight to hell.

In the strangest plot twist in Greek mythology, Athena held her hand out. She seemed distressed, but determined. "Stand down, all of you."

Percy felt uneasy. He thought Athena's arrival signaled a victory for them. Arachne was holding her daughter hostage _right then and there. _Yet, Arachne was still standing...with her head still attached to her body.

He looked to Thalia. "Am I seeing things right now?"

Thalia looked mortified. The color had washed from her face and she was trembling.

Percy turned to Arachne. He felt the wolf nearly bursting come out. Riptide's normal golden glow looked silver in the moonlight.

He heard Annabeth croak with the blade under her throat, "Mom? What are you…"

Percy said slowly, "I'm only going to say this once. Let her go."

Thalia stepped forward. "Yeah. Unless you want to find out how it feels to get drowned and struck by lightning at the same time."

Percy noticed the Hunters coalescing around the group in a semicircle. The only open side led to the sea as if they were challenging all of them to take a swim. The Hunters' bows were all nocked with at least five arrows.

Arachne used her mandibles to chitter in amusement. "Big threats coming from such tiny gods. Why don't you tell them, Athena? Tell them what happened."

Thalia swallowed. "No. Hunters!"

In one motion, the Hunters released their arrows in streaks of silver. Percy yelled Annabeth's name.

Athena's form shimmered in a multitude of afterimages around her. After less than a half second, Percy's eyes focused to see Athena in front of Arachne, holding a stack of arrows.

Athena looked up at Thalia. "Enough. You know what happened, do you not, Hunter?"

Thalia clenched her jaw. Percy looked at Thalia. "Thalia, what's going on? Can someone tell me what's going on?!"

Thalia shook her head. She looked disgusted with Athena. "You lost, didn't you? You lost your stupid competition."

_Competition__? _Percy looked to Athena.

Athena had not responded and was standing still like a statue.

Thalia continued. "That's why...that's why you're protecting Arachne."

Percy's world spun. "Wait...Athena, you are protecting Arachne because of...a competition?"

Arachne made a hissing sound that must have been laughter. "Oh, yes, sea-spawn. Athena and I had a rematch. A weaving contest for the ages. The Muses, bless their soul, actually have taste. They, without knowing the stakes or who belonged to what artwork, chose my own tapestry to be superior. Superior...over Athena herself."

Percy almost laughed at the ridiculousness of such a claim. "You've got to be kidding me. This is a joke, right? We're not here fighting for our lives over a weaving contest, are we?"

"Percy…"

Percy saw Annabeth struggling to get air. Just from her saying his name, he knew it wasn't a joke. He remembered Annabeth telling him that when she faced Arachne, she had doubted that Athena was truly better than Arachne at tapestry. Something Annabeth said about that encounter stuck with Percy: _What if the story we heard was the story written by the more powerful? What if Athena hid the truth and tried to rewrite history? _

"So...Arachne challenged Athena to a weaving contest. And Athena lost. So, Athena has to….what? Protect Arachne?"

Athena looked to the ground in what almost looked like...shame? Thalia didn't have to say anything for Percy to understand.

The waves crashed onto shore, wetting Annabeth's feet.

The air turned cold. "You gambled Annabeth, didn't you?"

Athena kept her eyes to the ground.

"SAY IT," Percy screamed. In reality, every fiber of him hoped she would correct him.

Athena inhaled and opened her mouth, only to get struck by a blast of lightning. Percy whipped his head around to see Thalia with her hand out.

"Thalia..." Percy began. He couldn't finish his statement, as he heard a volley of arrows being released once more. Thalia sprinted towards Arachne.

Percy held his hand out to the water, but nothing happened. Percy's heart beat as he tried it once more, but nothing happened. He knew Riptide was going to return to his pocket in a few minutes, but they didn't quite have a few minutes.

Percy gave up and ran towards the monster. He could only run and watch as the arrows lit Arachne up, forcing her to drop Annabeth and Riptide. Then, three things happened.

Annabeth coughed and reached for Riptide.

Thalia's thrusted her spear towards Arachne's heart.

In a clap of thunder, Annabeth was suddenly empty-handed, and Percy heard a _ching. _

Athena had used Riptide to parry Thalia's strike at the last second. The two weapons meeting with such force resulted in a blast of concussive energy that pushed Thalia, Percy, Annabeth, and Arachne away. Percy used his hands to painfully break his fall, and tried to run towards them again. He didn't know what he was going to do, he didn't know what his plan was, but he knew he had to try.

Annabeth was coughing as she tried to crawl towards Percy. Percy yelled her name when Athena materialized next to Annabeth, grabbed her by the ankle, and dragged her towards Arachne. Percy could only scream as Athena handed Riptide to Arachne. Arachne picked a flailing Annabeth up.

Arachne took Riptide to Annabeth's throat.

Percy desperately reached to the sea, but received no response once more.

Arachne used Riptide to brutally slit Annabeth's throat in a motion so deep and strong that it nearly beheaded her.

All sound drained from the beach. The moon disappeared behind the clouds.

Percy fell.

He could perceive nothing but sensation and emotion as he tried to process seeing Annabeth's nearly severed head dangling from her body.

The wolf was released.

Percy no longer felt isolated from the seawater; he _was _the water now. The next thing he knew, half of the water in the Sound rose and spun in a funnel of seawater. The funnel/tornado of water crashed onto the beach and wiped everything and everyone away.

Everyone except Athena.

Percy felt his eyes sting with tears. A hurricane had arrived at Montauk, producing harsh winds and rain. He _felt _the same voice that told him that he could sink the Hunters' raft. However, this time, it was telling him to sacrifice the goddess to the sea.

Percy advanced towards Athena with his hand out to his side. A jet of water shot towards him, carrying Riptide straight into his hand. He saw Athena with an expressionless face.

When Percy got closer, though, he recognized fear in her eyes.

No, not fear.

He saw _weakness_.

Percy gripped Riptide. He took on Ares. He took on Hyperion.

He could take on Athena.

Athena materialized a long, golden and silver spear and got into a flawless battle position. Her eyes were looking him up and down, likely analyzing battle strategies.

"Kill me, Jackson, and you will never be able to come back from this," she warned.

"You don't deserve to live," Percy growled. His muscles tensed as he prepared to attack.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw red in the water. Annabeth's body bobbed up and down in the water, floating about forty feet away from him.

Percy snapped out of his rage.

Athena no longer mattered. Percy raised his hand, and redirected the current to bring the body to him.

Annabeth's body floated into his arms, and he cradled her gently, even in the midst of the wind and rain.

Percy threw his head back, and his screams were lost to the waves.


	3. Promise

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Thalia

Thalia felt rhythmic pressure.

_Thump. _

_Thump._

_Thump. _

_Thalia! _A far off voice called out to her essence. The dark, abstract void Thalia was in kept her from responding.

The pressure continued again.

_Thump. _

_Thump. _

_Thalia! Wake up. _Another voice reached out, a woman's voice. The voice seemed a little closer, a little clearer.

_Thump. _

_Thump. _

A deeper, more sinister voice reached out. It didn't necessarily have a sound- it was like the words were imprinted on her soul.

_Thalia. Go hunt. _

Thalia was ripped from the formless void and thrust back into life.

Thalia violently sat up and found herself immediately gasping for breath, desperately gulping in all the oxygen she could ingest. When she opened her eyes, she was only met with blurry forms and colors. She blinked a few times and was relieved to find her vision returning.

Once her sight returned to her, she blinked and looked around.

She was in a humble tent. Fireflies were attached to the walls of the tent, as if the tent had been decorated with golden-orange Christmas lights. There were trinkets, loose weapons, clothes, and even a few Hunters strewn around the area. Reyna was in the corner of the tent, leaning against the tentpole and fiddling with an arrow. She was clenching and unclenching her jaw, something she only did when she was about to lose a sparring match. She was not focused on the arrow in her hands though- she was looking at Thalia with biting concern.

Jackie was scrambling throughout the room, grabbing all the blankets she could. Hunter and Jackson were whisper-screaming to one another by the entrance of the tent.

Artemis sat in the center of the tent, at the foot of Thalia's cot. Her legs were crossed, and her eyes were closed. Two wolves lay on either side of her, resting as well. Every time Artemis would inhale, some fireflies illuminated themselves. When Artemis exhaled, the other batch of fireflies would have their turn to shine.

Thalia could tell they were outside because the fall breeze was still blowing through. It was a little sharp to be daytime, and the fireflies' glow was a bit bright. As such, Thalia assumed it was dusk.

Her internal compass seemed a little bit fried, but she could definitely tell they were no longer in Montauk.

Jackie began draping some blankets on the cot, on the floor, and several blankets on Thalia. Each one a different color than the last, until it made a spread of rainbow-colored covers. Despite the beautiful layout, Thalia frowned. She felt strange; her mouth was suddenly producing a lot of saliva and she was feeling lightheaded.

Thalia closed her eyes, and the next thing she knew, she was throwing up a copious amount of saltwater. She could feel the seawater exploding from her lungs, through her throat, and out of her mouth. She could _taste _the salt. She hated throwing up- it was one of her least favorite sensations in the world.

Finally, the stream let up, and Thalia let loose three deep coughs in succession. Thalia opened her eyes and her heart dropped. The water had gotten on nearly every one of the blankets Jackie had collected. The Hunters had all recoiled from Thalia and gathered in Reyna's corner.

Artemis had the worst of it. Her shirt, pants, and boots were covered by the stream. Thalia felt her ears turn red. The room began to get hot. Artemis slowly opened her multi-colored eyes and looked at Thalia, seemingly unfazed by the grossness that just transpired.

"How are you feeling, my lieutenant?"

Thalia closed her eyes once more. Sweat collected on her forehead. She thought back to the voice in her head. It was different from the other voices that tried to reach her, and more...chaotic and less verbal. The only way to describe it, though, was a voice.

It was the same voice that had visited her in Arachne's little awakening ceremony.

_Oh, no. _

Arachne.

Annabeth.

The image of Arachne killing Annabeth invaded her mind.

Her little Annabeth.

Thalia couldn't stop herself from suddenly producing her own saltwater. Her tears flowed mercilessly, and she wiped them furiously.

She felt like tearing the entire tent down. She felt like tearing Arachne apart.

Thalia knew, however, that crying wouldn't help her change the past. It wouldn't help her bring Annabeth back. It wouldn't even help her avenge her death. She didn't need to cry. She needed to do something.

She began to stand up.

Hunter and Jackie rushed over to Thalia, attempting to guide her back to bed. Thalia shook them off and continued to rise.

Thalia wanted to say, _Get off me. _Her voice, however, was nowhere to be found. She wanted to talk, but it was like she could no longer form words. Maybe her grief was seizing her the same way it had done in the past. Maybe she was afraid that she would spill her guts and say something she regretted.

Or, maybe it was because she felt like she didn't deserve to be there, alive and surrounded by people that cared for her.

Artemis eyes crinkled with disapproval. "You must rest, Thalia. You nearly died by drowning a few hours ago...and you also suffered a great tragedy."

Artemis' eyes softened. "To lose your family like this...there are no words that can describe such pain."

Thalia figured that Artemis had dealt with this many times before- having one of her Hunters lose someone.

Thalia's tears continued to flow as she thought about all she had lost, from her blood family to the Hunters that had fallen at the Battle of Old San Juan. It just seemed like the deaths kept coming, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Thalia couldn't stop them- she wasn't powerful enough.

Thalia remembered seeing Annabeth nearly decapitated, and having trouble comprehending what happened. Before she even had time to react, she remembered seeing nearly the entire Sound rising up in a huge wave, forming into a twister of water, and washing the Hunters away in a flash flood powerful enough to level a small town. Thalia remembered desperately swimming against the current, trying to get to Annabeth. However, her attempts had been to no avail. The current was too strong.

She will never forget floating past Percy and seeing a sight she had never seen; Percy using his abilities to propel himself on top of the water. She remembered Percy walking on the water towards Athena, approaching her with an expression that looked like a terrifying mixture of anger, hate, and even..._hunger. _Thalia thought she saw Percy's eyes even glowing green as he neared. It was a sight more unsettling than most, if not all, of the creatures the Hunters had encountered.

Thalia had tried to call Percy's name, but had ended up swallowing nothing but water. As the freezing water entered her lungs, Thalia's body had gone rigid, and then limp. She had succumbed to the waves.

Apparently, according to Artemis, that nearly killed her a few hours ago.

Why did part of her wish the flood had finished the job?

_A few hours ago. _It had only been a few hours since Arachne murdered her best friend, whilst under the protection of Athena herself. Thalia couldn't _do_ anything. Not even Percy, perhaps potentially the most powerful demigod she knew.

Thalia's eyes stung like Arachne's poison was falling from them. She looked at Reyna, who looked like she wanted to hug her. Thalia then spotted her spear, her bow, her arrows, and Aegis, all tucked away in the corner opposite the other Hunters.

Thalia sensed Artemis regarding her intently. She met the goddess' gaze.

Artemis looked like she knew exactly what Thalia was thinking. The goddess' expression seemed knowing, but guarded. It was uncharacteristic of the usually confident goddess. Then again, Thalia remembered that Artemis was supposed to help calm Athena down.

Artemis had failed.

As if Thalia was broadcasting her thoughts through a megaphone, Artemis nodded. "Part of you holds some resentment towards me. Perhaps for not succeeding to stop Athena."

Even if Thalia wanted to hide her feelings, her silence was damning. Several questions swirled through Thalia's mind. Maybe she didn't have enough power to stop Athena, but Artemis did. The gods have enough power to stop all of this. Hell, they even went toe to toe with Titans.

Why didn't Artemis help? With all her power and influence? Why didn't she face off against Athena, forcing her to engage goddess to goddess, sister to sister? Why are the gods like this; acting within vague laws, weird conditions, and detached mindsets?

Artemis had stood by while Annabeth was murdered. And she seemed barely fazed by it- as if it was out of her control. It was almost like she didn't care.

_How many deaths has she seen? How many deaths can one see, before they become desensitized enough to lose their care? _

Artemis stood. The wolves stood with her.

Artemis' hand went to her back and pulled out a dagger. The dagger was celestial bronze and Thalia could swear that she heard a hum from the blade as it moved through the air.

Annabeth's dagger.

Artemis handed it to Thalia. "This was recovered after the flood that your ally had triggered. It was found in the ugly car that was parked by the cabin and carried away by the flood. I believe it belonged to your friend. Perhaps you may know what to do with it."

Thalia wordlessly took the dagger. Daggers were never her thing, but the weapon had a history; it managed to have belonged to two of the most important people in her life at different times. Now, it was in her possession.

Artemis watched Thalia thumb over the blade. "I was indeed making progress with Athena. She was quite emotional when seeing the weaver's display of disrespect. I was able to momentarily calm her down, enough to turn her back on the weaver. When Athena heard the challenge that was directed towards her capabilities, though, not even I could have stopped her. A statement that posits that my sister may be incapable of surpassing someone else's talent is the proverbial death sentence."

_Death sentence. _

Thalia looked at Jackie, whose eyes were shifting from Thalia to the back of the tent. Thalia narrowed her eyes.

_What was Jackie looking at? _

Confused, Thalia looked behind her, only to see the old brown tent tarp. Thalia, however, was able to catch the slightest whiff of a familiar scent.

Arachne.

Thalia looked back at Jackie, and then at Reyna, whose eyes widened as she saw Thalia's expression.

_She's here. _

Artemis closed her eyes. "You have noticed. The weaver is here in our camp. She forgot, in her conditions of the weaving contest, to secure amnesty from the gods' wrath. Once the Montauk waters subsided, we found her weakened. We bound her, and are preparing to bring her to Olympus for judgment."

_Bound her? _

_She's still alive? _

Thalia opened her hand and let her emotions flow into her surroundings. A monstrous gust of wind tore the tent out from the ground, threw the Hunters off their center of balance, and slung her spear and shield towards her. Artemis was unaffected, and watched as the tent tarp flapped north, towards the nearby forest. Arachne's smell got exponentially thicker, and Thalia felt goosebumps on her neck.

She turned to see the Hunters' triangle of tents struggling against her wind. In the middle of the tents was Arachne, lying on the ground. She was about forty feet away, trapped in a pulsating golden net. She looked worse than she had before; the parts of her that weren't originally fully formed were now either completely gone, or badly infected. Thalia noticed Arachne slightly shivering. Arachne's eyes were closed.

Thalia threw Aegis to the side and shifted her spear to her left hand. She felt that same deep voice. _Hunt, Thalia Grace. Hunt. _

For the first time, the voice was not pushing her to do something. Instead, she and the voice were already on the same page.

Thalia dual-wielded Annabeth's knife in her right hand and her spear in her left. She approached Arachne. Thalia started to see spots and her veins were popping out of her body. She wanted to rip Arachne apart like one used a box cutter to rip open a box. She didn't just want to end her- she wanted to make it _hurt. _

Arachne was now only a few feet away. Arachne's eyes stirred, as if she sensed that her death was near. Thalia raised her spear.

_For Annabeth. _

Artemis materialized next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thalia, enough."

Thalia, against her conscious will, froze. A shiver went down her spine. Thalia didn't know if Artemis made her freeze, or if she was subconsciously following Artemis' command.

Once again, a god was stopping her from doing the right thing.

_Not you too, Lady Artemis. _

Artemis walked around so she was between Thalia and Arachne. Thalia got bad flashbacks of Athena protecting Arachne. "The weaver is prone. It has been captured. It will be brought to the Olympians for judgment. As will you, for striking an Olympian while in the Hunt."

Thalia couldn't believe what she was hearing. She only hit Athena with lightning to save Annabeth. Athena was _protecting _the monster.

"When someone is summoned by the gods, Thalia, they are under protection until the meeting. This is divine law."

_Divine_ law. That's what she called it.

"This hunt, my lieutenant-"

_Don't say it. _

"-has ended."

Thalia felt like she was smacked between the eyes. She backed away from Artemis, and noticed Artemis' hand lingering not by her bow, but by her huge hunting knife.

_Artemis thinks I'm a threat, _Thalia replayed over and over again in her head. Artemis, the one that gave Thalia a new home. The one who gave her countless training sessions and pieces of wisdom. Artemis, the one who told Thalia she would always be welcome within their ranks.

The goddess was now ready to hurt Thalia. If Thalia tried to avenge Annabeth's murder, she would die at the hands of Artemis.

Thalia desperately turned towards the Hunters with a tacit plea. Even though she didn't say anything, she could feel everything written on her face.

_Help me! _

_She killed Annabeth! _

_Please! _

Silence.

None of the Hunters responded. They were still as if they had been touched by Kronos himself. No one spoke, or even moved.

Thalia opened her mouth and her voice came out like a hoarse croak. "Please help."

Silence. Thalia could hear nothing but the wind in the early evening time.

"Please," Thalia whispered. She _needed _this.

Silence. The Hunters began to shift in discomfort. All eyes seemed to be alternating between Thalia and Artemis.

Thalia looked at her former pen pal. Reyna looked like there was something in her eyes. "I mourn as well, Thalia. But it's divine law, Thalia. Lady Artemis herself forbade us from doing anything to her. We can't do anything about that."

In that moment, Thalia came to a stark realization. These Hunters were here to serve _Artemis. _Not support each other. Not be there for Thalia. Not protect the world. Not fight for others. Not to find a family. Not even to honor a friend.

Rather, their priority was to serve an immortal goddess of the Hunt.

They were pawns, in this game that the gods were playing. A psychopathic, celestial game called, _Who Can Cause The Most Trouble? _They were Artemis' makeshift demigods, all lost causes and broken souls that she decided to sponsor. Not out of the goodness of her heart, per se, but in return for obedience, service, and favors.

Hera tortured Annabeth and pulled endless strings to get Camp Jupiter and Half-Blood to unite.

Athena gambled the life of her own daughter because of her ridiculous pride.

Zeus, her own father, would do whatever he could to seduce the humans he was interested in. Manipulation, intimidation, aggression, whatever was at his disposal.

This was what gods _just did. _They used people.

Thalia remembered thinking that the Hunters were _so _cool when she was younger. Then, when Zoe told Thalia that she had to swear off boys, she thought to herself, _What kind of badass girl empowerment group makes you give up your guy friends? _

What if that was because Artemis wanted her Hunters to be devoted to her completely, and she knew that love would be strong enough to break her hold on her Hunters?

Thalia looked at Artemis, who hadn't moved from her position. Artemis looked like a leopard that was watching an angry lion. "Thalia...revenge has a way of consuming you before it reaches your enemies. This is how evil can prevail."

Evil.

Thalia saw the air turn a tinge of blue. A haze started to surround her. Her body started to shake, and she turned away from Artemis.

What did she know about good and evil?

Ozone filled the air.

Thalia had never felt such rage inside her.

She heard Artemis' voice pierce the air. "You are angry with me, for not allowing you to slay the weaver. I will not let her die at your hands."

Thalia glanced at her surroundings. She knew she couldn't beat Artemis in the long game; she'd have to get close-range.

Artemis unsheathed her three-foot hunting knife, a mixture of celestial bronze, imperial gold, and Stygian iron. "Thalia Grace. Please, stand down."

Hearing her mother's last name was like the final nail. Thalia dropped Annabeth's dagger and gripped her spear. Electricity charged Thalia's spear. Her muscles tensed. She rarely, if ever, fought Olympians.

This would be interesting, to say the least. She needed to be on her toes at all moments. One false move or one missed strike could cost her not only the battle, but her life.

A hand fell on Thalia's shoulder. In a matter of half a second, she flipped them over her shoulder, cracked their arm, then used their fractured arm to pull the person in a headlock. Thalia put her spear to their neck. Electricity surged and crackled even past the point of the spear, nearly sparking into her adversary's neck.

Her adversary, however, turned out to be Reyna. Reyna stretched out her neck, trying to get air. Her voice came out as a (literally) strangled whisper. "Thalia. She...Arachne...must...she must face justice. Olympian justice, for...what she did. Justice...is eternal. Killing is...temporary. Not even Tartarus is permanent."

Artemis added, "Look at yourself, Thalia. Does this position look familiar to you?"

Thalia thought back to Arachne holding Riptide to Annabeth's neck.

Repulsed by herself, Thalia dropped Reyna. Reyna scrambled away, clutching her throat. Thalia let go of her spear, and then looked at her hands. She was almost expecting to see blood on them.

Artemis straightened up, out of her battle stance. "Thalia. Please rest. We shall address your...actions at another time."

Thalia had a feeling Artemis wanted to use a different word than _actions. _She looked at Artemis.

There wouldn't be another time. She was done being controlled.

Thalia grabbed her lieutenant pin, the insignia she had worn with so much pride over the past few years. Thalia ripped it off, along with some of her shirt. She let the pin fall to the ground, and watched the wind blow it away.

"I'm done. I...I see you all for what you really are. I, Thalia Grace-"

Artemis stepped forward. "Thalia. Stop this, immediately."

"-hereby revoke my pledge to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the Hunt-"

Reyna scrambled up and put her hand up. "Thalia, no!"

"-renounce eternal maidenhood-"

Some of the other Hunters yelled collectively.

"-and knowingly accept any consequence that the goddess Artemis decides to impose upon me."

The wind stopped. The forest became deathly quiet.

Thalia knew that the Hunt was a binding oath, and knew that a variety of consequences may come from quitting the Hunt. From the stories Thalia heard, these consequences ranged from getting turned into an animal to being immediately torn apart by a pack of wolves. Thalia thought any of those was better than living as a puppet in a group that was controlled by a goddess.

A shadow went over Artemis' face. For an instant, Artemis thought she saw a shade of her roman Diana persona flash through. It seemed like a thousand emotions were attempting to explode out of her face. Looking at Artemis' volatile scowl was like romantically gazing in the eyes of Aegis; Thalia wanted to run away screaming and cower in a tree somewhere.

Thalia tried to control her facial expression as she turned to the Hunters, who were in shock. The silence was deafening now, permeating her ears and her mind. Thalia silently took off her silver jacket, folded it, and placed it at the foot of a nearby tree. She picked up Aegis and put it on her back. Thalia picked up her spear, grabbed Annabeth's dagger, and began to walk away. Part of her wanted to turn back to at least look at Artemis or Reyna, but she knew that wouldn't make her decision any easier.

As Thalia walked, she felt her strength drain from her. Exhaustion hit her like a baseball bat. Her joints began to ache, pop, and crack. Thalia felt sick, hot, cold, and tired at the same time. She felt herself getting a little taller.

Even as she actively lost her immortality, Thalia continued to walk away. She knew she was turning her back on what used to be her home. It wasn't her first time doing so, and she hoped it would be her last.

* * *

Thalia walked for an hour. Then another one. Then, another. Almost like she was re-learning how to walk, Thalia focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Thalia walked for so long that she lost track of time. She could no longer feel her legs. Her head pounded. Thalia began to feel lightheaded, and then began to feel dissociated from her body.

Finally, she couldn't walk anymore. Thalia collapsed.

The wind returned, but not by Thalia's hand. This time, it was beating against her like it was sent by Artemis. It started to drizzle, adding to Thalia's misery. Her eyes closed.

She had forgotten what it was like to be mortal. Everything hurt, as if her body parts were taking shifts to attack Thalia. Even though Thalia couldn't move her body, she was still conscious. Thalia was glad she was- she wanted to feel everything.

She deserved this. She deserved all the pain.

She failed to protect Annabeth, and now Annabeth was dead. It was Thalia's fault. She needed to suffer.

Thalia felt like crying, but she couldn't. She was, at least for the meantime, out of tears.

Thalia instinctively tried to use her internal compass to locate where she was. However, it was like getting her arm cut off and trying to move the arm afterwards. There was nothing there, almost like a void.

Thalia, for the first time since she was fifteen, had no idea where she was.

She didn't even know where she was going to live. Thalia was homeless again.

She thought about sending an Iris-Message to Chiron. Chiron would probably take her in, putting her right back in Cabin 1. The only problem was that she couldn't send an Iris-Message; the only drachmas she had were the communal pack that the Hunters used. That, of course, was still back at the Hunter camp. Thalia doubted that Artemis would let her return, rob them, and then head out.

It was probably for the best. Sure, Capture the Flag was fun and sparring with the Ares Cabin was one of the most exhilarating things she could do. However, Camp Half-Blood was never quite a home for her. She woke up from being a tree, went on a few quests, and then joined the Hunt. She never had a chance to plant her roots.

Thalia wondered how her life would have been different if she had made it past Half-Blood Hill with Luke and Annabeth. Would things have turned out differently? Would Thalia have more friends? Would her family still be alive?

She missed Annabeth.

The world was larger, colder, and more unforgiving without those gray eyes and that smile.

Thalia heard something.

She heard a footstep.

She heard another footstep.

Then, she heard the clop of hooves crunch on the leaves around her.

She smelled a weird combination of wet fur and milk, like how Grover may have smelled if he had spilled some ice cream on himself.

Something cold and wet nudged the top of her head.

Thalia opened her eyes and saw a glowing goat. The goat had long, messy gray fur that refracted the moonlight. The light seemed to be bending around the animal. The goat's horns curled upwards like a ram. Its udders were plump, decorated with ancient Greek letters. The goat was regarding Thalia with solemn amber eyes that matched the color of its collar.

Thalia held the goat's gaze, and for a second, she couldn't hear the rain. She was no longer cold, and she felt just slightly more at peace.

Thalia felt groggy, despite not sleeping. "Hi, there."

The goat seemed to nod in approval. It then bounded off, shimmering in the night. Thalia sat up and rubbed her eyes.

Was that Amaltheia?

Amaltheia was Zeus' sacred animal- it had taken care of her father when he was young. Despite this, her father killed the goat and created Aegis using the hide. Even though Amaltheia was resurrected, Thalia figured that the goat wasn't happy with Zeus' treatment of it. It was simply another example of the gods disrespecting those that served them.

However, Thalia posited that there must have been some reason why Amaltheia showed up. Her dad's glowing goat had made its appearance a few times in Thalia's life, each time to bring her to something gravely important. The last time it appeared, it not only brought her to Aegis, but also to Annabeth. The time before that, it navigated through the dragon's cave near Charleston, right into another trapped demigod with blonde hair and a cute smile.

Amaltheia only showed up for an important reason. Whether it was a message from Zeus or a path from the universe itself, Thalia knew she needed to follow it.

Maybe Amaltheia was there because of Annabeth.

Thalia scrambled up and ran through the forest. Her body hurt, but she pushed through. A million questions singed through her mind. _What if Annabeth is somehow alive? What if there's a way to bring her back? What if Amaltheia is there to lead Thalia into a trap? _

Thalia followed Amaltheia for about an hour and a half. Thalia hopped over logs, slid under branches, and sidestepped small animals in her way. Amaltheia stayed barely in Thalia's line of sight; just slow enough so Thalia could keep up, and just fast enough to push her to run faster.

The ground turned from solid to swampy. Marsh grass littered the region. The air turned humid and sticky. Thalia picked her feet up a little higher with each step. She couldn't afford to slow down, or else she may find herself tripping, falling, and not getting up.

Thalia felt weird. Even though she no longer had her internal compass, Thalia could tell that this area was familiar.

Her concentration was broken when she stepped in an unexpectedly deep puddle. The water exploded upwards, blocking her vision, splashing her, and drenching her pants. Thalia stopped running and wiped her eyes. That wasn't the best idea, as her arm was already dripping wet from the evening rainfall. It only made her vision more blurry. Thalia yelled in frustration, and tried to use the bottom of her shirt to pat herself off.

It didn't work.

Thalia had an idea. She expanded Aegis and held it up to block the rain. Fortunately, the shield straps were completely dry. Thalia silently thanked Amaltheia and used the straps to pat her eyes dry. She sighed and held Aegis on her head like a large hat. Thalia cursed. She could no longer see Amaltheia, and she doubted the goat was trying to take her to the middle of a random forest. The rain was so heavy that she could barely see.

Thalia began to walk. Insects chirped around the area. Mosquitoes tore Thalia's arms up, but she didn't do anything to shake them off. Thalia began to approach a patch of brambles.

Thalia's heartbeat began to quicken. She knew this place.

She approached a poorly-woven circle of branches. Like it was muscle memory, Thalia used her spear to push the circle to the side.

When Thalia saw where she was, she dropped Aegis. Her heart jumped into her throat. The rain poured on Thalia. She didn't care, though. For the moment, she was

She was at their safehouse. Rather, she was at the safehouse that she, Luke, and Annabeth made years ago, the safehouse off of James River. The shelter had seen better days; the material they used was partially decomposed, and the structure was slanted to the side like the Leaning Safehouse of Virginia.

Thalia could have sworn that she heard a young Annabeth's laughter whisk through the area.

Thalia fought the urge to shiver. This place seemed creepy now, as if only ghosts remained. This must have been where Amaltheia was taking her to. But why? Thalia forced herself to walk forward. Thalia's heart pumped nervous energy through her body.

Thalia stepped over some more brambles and walked towards the back of the safehouse. There, somehow still standing, was Luke's grave. Even though the Fates had taken Luke's body, Annabeth and Thalia ended up returning here after the fight against Kronos to honor him by creating a more personalized resting place. It was what Luke had deserved- a hero's memorial.

The grave was marked with an _X_\- created with a staff and with Luke's old golf club. A shovel lay on the ground, with the end of the shovel leading into an elevated slice of earth in front of the cross. She remembered burying Halcyon's diary at Luke's grave, so as to respect Halcyon's wish for Luke to hold it. Annabeth had also buried the silver scythe bracelet that Luke had given Silena years ago.

Thalia heard her new friend's voice imprinting on her once more. _Dig, Thalia. _

Something stopped her, though. Something in Thalia told her that digging into Luke's grave seemed..._wrong. _

Thalia took a few steps forward and picked up the shovel. Lightning flashed in the distance, followed by thunder.

Thalia's anger began to stew. She started to think about Arachne, about Athena, about Artemis, about the Hunters, about Luke, about Annabeth, about...her family.

Thalia found herself digging, one scoop after another. She couldn't tell if it was the rain that was falling down her cheeks, or if the dam had broken and she actually had more tears to shed.

Eventually, the shovel hit a solid surface. Thalia peered down the makeshift grave she had made to see not only the capsule she and Annabeth put in there, but also…a hat.

More specifically, it was Annabeth's New York Yankees hat. It was buried here, on top of the capsule, as if Annabeth had returned here in the last few years to bury it here. Thalia frowned and slid into the grave.

_Why is this here? _

This was a gift from Athena, but Thalia couldn't figure out why Annabeth would throw it away. Granted, Thalia stipulated that all gifts from Athena should be thrown in graves. But, Annabeth received this way before Athena betrayed her own daughter.

Thalia was tempted to open the capsule and open Halcyon's diary. She remembered that he had told her she'd find her family. Part of her wanted to see if the older demigod had seen this loss in Thalia' future.

Thalia guessed he was wrong.

Taking the diary was crossing a line, though, that she was not ready to cross. That prophetic diary was entrusted to Luke, not Thalia. She shouldn't read it unless Luke specifically asked her to. Obviously, she couldn't quite call him up and ask now.

Instead, Thalia reached for Annabeth's hat. As soon as she made contact, a huge clap of thunder exploded in the sky. It would have made Thalia jump if she wasn't so preoccupied. Thalia's fingers tingled as she stared at the _NY _on the hat.

_Thalia took a breath. She was glad to finally rest for the first time in about twenty hours. All the craziness with Halcyon had taken a toll on her. _

_Luke was almost finished with his ham sandwich. He seemed intently focused on the food, eating like he didn't know when his next meal would be. Thalia took a bite of her own sandwich, and fought the urge to recoil. The sandwich tasted like cardboard, but it was better than nothing. _

_Thalia caught herself staring at Luke's cheek. She remembered being so happy that she kissed him on the cheek without thinking during their last adventure. Sure, they had cause to celebrate, but she didn't know if it was too much. Did he feel weird towards her now? Did she make things weird? _

_Thalia was suddenly self-conscious about her ripped leather jacket. She thought about how bad her disgusting hair probably looked, as well as her old boots. She probably didn't smell the best. There were a thousand people Luke could be traveling with. People that were more normal than her. People that actually smiled and didn't have mommy and daddy issues. _

_Thalia hoped that Luke didn't hate her. She knew she wasn't the easiest to be around. She knew that she dragged him to things he probably didn't want to explore. He probably thought she was an annoying kid. Even though he was only two years older than her, he seemed wise beyond his years. _

_And yet, he was still here. He didn't leave her like her father did. _

_Luke's head popped up like someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Someone's close by. Not a regular mortal." _

_Thalia couldn't help but be annoyed. While this demigod life was crazy and wild at times, it actually had a few rules. Generally, when they survived one thing, they would get a bit of a break. They didn't usually have to jump into something else right away. _

_Thalia looked for her spear. She didn't feel the same sensation she usually felt when danger was near. Thalia wondered if Luke's powers allowed him to supernaturally sense danger like a non-sticky Spider-Man. "How can you be so sure?" _

_She heard Luke pull out Halcyon's celestial bronze dagger. The glow of the dagger illuminated their space. Thalia subsequently grabbed her spear and whispered, "Aegis." She watched the shield expand. When it was fully expanded, she felt a rush of power. She dared whatever it was to challenge her. _

_Thalia and Luke crept by the warehouse, ready to pounce at any point in time. Luke turned down a dark alleyway. Thalia shook her head and sighed. Dark alleyways were definitely where all good things resided. _

_Thalia saw Luke point at a platform at the end of the alleyway. It looked to be a loading dock, filled with sheets of old metal. Luke made eye contact with Thalia. _

_Thalia whispered, "Are you sure?" _

_Luke nodded. "Something's down there. I sense it." _

_A huge clang made both of them tense. Luke gripped his dagger, and Thalia leveled her spear._

_A sheet of metal shook and moved, like a kid playing hide and seek. Thalia moved her hands up her spear and switched her hands to prepare for a quick thrust downwards. Luke put his hand up as if to say, 'Not yet.' _

_Luke moved towards the tin fearlessly and lifted the sheet of tin. A flash of blonde hair attacked Luke like a small blonde troll. Luke easily disarmed and restrained it within a second. The troll's hammer went flying across the pavement. _

_Now that the creature was in view, Thalia was able to recognize that it wasn't a creature. It was a young girl, about six or seven years old. Thalia would have thought it was a monster in disguise, but the girl seemed powerless. She was struggling in Luke's grip. She was screaming, crying, and kicking him in the legs. _

_Thalia could tell that her kicks were probably doing some damage, but Luke didn't let it show on his face. Thalia's palms began to sweat. She was never good with kids; if she was, Jason would never have disappeared. _

_The child opened her eyes, took a look at Aegis, and screamed some more. She continued to fight. Luke almost lost his grip on her, but regained it quickly. _

_Luke looked at Thalia and his gaze immediately went to Aegis. Thalia knew she should put her spear and shield down, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. _

_For the first time, Luke raised his voice at her. "Thalia! Put your shield away! You're scaring her!" _

_That statement made Thalia think of her mother whenever she was in one of her moods. Thalia touched the shield and watched as it collapsed into a bracelet. With difficulty, she dropped her spear. _

_Thalia thought to herself, 'What wouldn't her mother do?' _

_Thalia bent down to the girl. Without Aegis expanded, the girl met Thalia's eyes without fear. The girl's strong gray eyes told Thalia everything she needed to know. Thalia saw that the girl was trying to be tough so that she could protect herself. Thalia knew it because she did the same thing. "Hey, little girl. It's all right. We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke." _

_Defiantly, the girl yelled, "Monsters!" _

_Luke jumped in. "No." _

_Thalia noticed the girl shaking in her flannel pajamas. Luke began to talk, but the sound began to bleed away. Thalia could no longer hear Luke or the girl. Thalia realized that the girl was not a random thug. She wasn't a regular homeless kid. The girl was one of them- a demigod. She was another one of the gods' failed projects. _

_Anger surged through her. Why were all the gods such deadbeats? Thalia did a quick sweep of their surroundings, just to make sure nothing was after this girl. She saw nothing but a few cats watching them. _

"_Where's your family?" Luke asked the girl. The question snapped Thalia out of her thoughts. Thalia took a few steps back. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked to Luke. _

_Where was her family? Thalia didn't know. It had been a long time since she had seen her mother, longer since she'd seen Jason. She found that she was struggling to form words. _

_However, Luke was not talking to her. He was talking to the girl. _

_Thalia exhaled. The kid didn't seem as relieved. She looked like she was about to either cry or punch someone. "My family hates me. They don't want me. I...ran away." _

_Thalia's heart broke. She knew what that was like. Despite all of Thalia's internal prejudice towards kids, she found that she wanted to take the kid with them. She wanted the kid to know that not everyone was horrible. Sure, Thalia and Luke didn't quite know what they were doing either. But, she figured the kid would be safer with her and Luke than by herself under a sheet of tin. _

_Luke looked at Thalia. His eyes asked if they could take the girl in. Thalia was relieved that Luke was on the same page. _

_They would take care of her. _

_Thalia stepped forward. What would a mother say in this situation? Or, at least, a mature woman. She took a knee next to Luke, so she was eye level with the child. _

"_What's your name, kiddo?" _

_Thalia winced at her word choice. Kiddo? She was twelve, not in her thirties. _

_The kid regarded Thalia cautiously. "Annabeth." _

_Thalia saw Luke smile, and her heart did a few pirouettes. Luke looked to Annabeth. "Nice name. I tell you what, Annabeth. You're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you." _

_Annabeth's eyes widened. "You could?!" _

"_Oh, yeah," Luke said, as if he was trying to sell a car. Luke was smooth enough to sell a nail clipper to a harpy. _

_Luke then reached for his belt and pulled Halcyon's dagger. Thalia nearly panicked and grabbed his wrist. However, Luke quickly turned it around so it lay flat in his hand. "How'd you like a real monster-slaying weapon? This is celestial bronze. Works a lot better than a hammer." _

_Thalia couldn't believe Luke was giving away the dagger he just received. It was even celestial bronze. It would have worked a lot better than his golf club. _

_Annabeth took the dagger and analyzed it fervently. She was studying the design, the model, and the form of the blade. . _

_Luke continued. "Knives are only for the bravest and quickest fighters. They don't have the reach or power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever." _

_Annabeth beamed with pride. "I am clever!" _

_Thalia couldn't hold it in. She let a laugh loose and roughed Annabeth's hair up. Their team of two was now a team of three. "We'd better get going, Annabeth. We have a safe house on the James River. We'll get you some clothes and food." _

_Annabeth's smile faltered. Thalia thought she may have said the wrong thing and that the kid would start fighting again. It made Thalia want to reach for Aegis again. _

_Annabeth looked between Thalia and Luke. "You're...you're not going to take me back to my family? Promise?" _

_Thalia's heart broke again. She wanted to march up to Annabeth's family and teach them a lesson. _

_Luke took a more diplomatic approach. "You're part of our family now. And I promise I'm not going to fail you like our families...did us. Deal?" _

"_Deal!" Annabeth said happily. _

_Thalia picked up her spear. Seeing Luke so happy made her smile. It looked like he'd finally done something right, rather than always beating himself up. Beating him up was her job. _

"_Now, come on," Thalia said. "We can't stay put for long." _

_Annabeth saluted. "Right. Let's go!" _

Tears littered the New York Yankees cap.

"I'm sorry," Thalia gasped. "I'm sorry, Luke. I'm sorry, Annabeth. I'm sorry I didn't protect you."

The Fates were playing a sick game. At one point, it had been the three of them together. Then, Luke and Annabeth had lost Thalia. Then, Annabeth and Thalia lost Luke. Then, Thalia lost Annabeth.

Thalia popped open the capsule. Thalia saw Halcyon's green diary and Luke's silver Kronos-themed charm bracelet. Thalia reached at her waist and took out Annabeth's dagger. Trembling, she put the dagger on top of the diary and thought back to what Luke had told her.

"_Thalia, one thing Halcyon made me promise was to fight back. Fight back if the gods ever treat you badly. Don't let them take advantage of you. Don't lay down and take it. And I'm going to keep my promise." _

"_Luke, the gods aren't even worth our time. They have barely helped us now, or cared for us in the first place." _

"_Thalia, the gods are powerful enough to cause trouble at any time. Now, it's your turn to promise. Promise me you'll fight back. I care about you too much to let you get pushed around."_

"_Luke-"_

"_Promise me." _

"_Fine-"_

"-I promise." Thalia said as she closed the capsule and put it back in the grave.

No more gods.

Thalia threw the hat out of the grave. She climbed out, grabbed the shovel, and started filling in the grave.

No more Hunters.

Thalia finished the shoveling and lay the shovel down by the grave with care.

She would no longer be a pawn.

She wouldn't be a piece in the gods' schemes anymore.

She would no longer be collateral damage in the gods' matters.

Thalia put Aegis on her back, and felt the rainwater on her skin.

She grabbed Annabeth's hat and slid it between her back and the Aegis straps. She nestled it so it would have minimal rainwater impact.

When Thalia had first met Annabeth, she and Luke promised that they would keep Annabeth safe. Thalia remembered thinking about that promise when she sacrificed herself at Half-Blood Hill. She did that, with no hesitation.

She figured Luke thought about that promise when he killed himself. Thalia liked to think that he, too, did that with no hesitation.

Though she and Luke both did their best to protect her, they both eventually failed.

Now, she needed to find a way to make this right.

Thalia stepped away from the makeshift base. She would make this right.

No matter what it took. Even if it killed her.

She would fight back. She would make it right.


	4. Family

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Percy

Percy could barely focus.

Pain. Anger. Regret. Loss.

They all coalesced into a whirlpool that Percy could not escape.

It pulled him down, so deep that not even he could breathe.

He would die in this sea of grief. Or, even worse, he would live. He would have to live through this.

He would have to live in a world without Annabeth.

"Percy…Percy!"

Percy's senses were deadened. His eyes were open, but they were not registering anything coming near him. Percy couldn't feel the soft mushroom seat he was on. He couldn't enjoy the scent of apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg that was wafting through Grover and Juniper's treehouse.

He couldn't admire the beautifully designed bark walls, or the distinct designs etched into the house's furniture. He couldn't appreciate the fact that Juniper somehow created a beautiful home that could fit inside of a tree, comprised of ascending circular rooms stacked upon one another and connected by a ladder.

He couldn't even expend energy to wonder how Juniper managed to secure a set of glowing green orbs that hung throughout the house, or the Christmas lights that looked to be woven into the walls themselves.

He felt drained of life, like someone took a piece of his soul. The world seemed painted in shades of gray, rather than the color he knew it was.

Percy's eyes finally flickered awake to see Grover snapping in front of him. Percy could tell Grover was in crisis management mode, something he was probably well-acquainted with during his time on the Council. Even though Grover was slightly shaking, he seemed composed.

Grover met Percy's eyes. "Percy. Listen to me. It was not your fault."

Percy could not disagree more. It _was _his fault, just as much as it was Arachne's. He had spent years fighting, training, and getting knocked down. When the time came, though, none of his abilities helped him. He couldn't attack with Riptide because it was getting passed around between monsters and goddesses like a deadly Hacky Sack. He couldn't use the sea for some reason, either. He could use it in every other circumstance, but when it mattered the most, he couldn't use it.

Percy didn't know why, either. He could come up with a thousand excuses, but the bottom line was that he failed to save her. He wasn't fast enough. He wasn't strong enough. He wasn't smart enough.

Grover took Percy's shoulders. "Percy. I don't quite know what happened, but I know you. And I know you did all you could."

Percy knew Grover was trying. Part of him appreciated that. The rest of him, though, didn't care about anything. He felt numb.

He felt himself slipping away, with no one to pull him out this time.

Percy's face cracked into a weak smile, one that was devoid of joy, happiness, or laughter. His voice was scratchy. "I…haven't seen you in a while, Grover. It's good to see…you."

Grover blinked back tears. "It's…good to see you, too. I just wish things were…different, you know? I wish- I just wish that things were different."

Percy felt his face continue to smile. "You can say it, buddy. You wish that…Annabeth wasn't killed? Killed by her worst nightmare and her mother in front of her friends?"

Grover furrowed his brow. "Right…Percy, what happened? When you say her worst nightmare, does that mean it had something to do with spiders?"

Percy continued to stare.

Grover rubbed his eyes. "Percy-"

A knock sounded from outside. The sound echoed throughout the tree.

"Grover?" It was Chiron's voice.

Grover cleared his throat and stood up. "That's Chiron, knocking on the, uh, tree. I don't suppose you want to speak to him, do you?"

Percy didn't respond. He couldn't. There was nothing he wanted to say to either Grover or Chiron. He almost forgot Grover and Juniper lived near Camp Half-Blood in the first place. He remembered that camp used to be his home- he used to count down the days before he could go back to camp. Now, without Annabeth, the camp seemed to have lost much of its appeal.

Grover nodded. "Right. That…that tracks. I'll be back. Please…eat something. You got to eat sometime, Percy."

Grover took the ladder from the third level to the first, and stepped out of the tree like Harry Potter pushing his cart into the magical platform.

Part of Percy was glad Grover was gone. He hated seeing Grover so determined to help him, and watching him be so defeated when Percy couldn't respond.

He sat there for what felt like a very long time.

A soft voice stirred his spirit. "Percy?"

Percy recognized Juniper's voice.

He heard her sit down on one of the silk-covered stools. He could tell, through his periphery, that she was looking at him. He could smell the oats she had made for him, as well as the honey in the tea she was holding.

They were silent for a while.

Percy heard her voice again. "Forgive…forgive me for saying this in this way, but…Percy, you have to snap out of it. For yourself. For Grover. For…for Annabeth."

Percy couldn't stop the rising tide of annoyance in his spirt. He slowly looked at her. His teeth clenched. "Snap…out of…it? You don't know what…"

Percy felt the wolf out and prowling. He felt the dark things he wanted to do to Arachne, the things he wanted to do to Athena. The things part of him wanted to do to himself.

That wasn't something he could just snap out of.

Juniper held his gaze. It seemed like she was angry with him. "I don't know…what? How it feels? I do. I know a little bit about what you're feeling."

She looked down at the bowl of oats. "That rage. The dark place you're in. Where you don't even want to touch your feelings because you feel like it will swallow you up and not let you go. That place that wants to consume your enemies. The place that wants to…to punish yourself for what happened."

Juniper looked up at him. Her eyes were searching, almost like she was gauging where he was at based on his reaction to her disclosure.

Percy was dumbfounded. He didn't recall dryads being able to read minds.

Juniper's thumbs nervously ran over the cup of tea she was holding. "I'm not reading your mind, Percy. I've…just gone through it before."

She offered the cup of tea. Percy stared at it for a beat before she said, "Take it."

Percy took it. The cup's warmth began to thaw him a bit.

Juniper raised her eyebrow. "Drink."

Percy began to understand why Grover was scared of Juniper. He took a drink and felt him wake up a little.

She offered him the oats, but Percy shook his head. She gave a disapproving hum, and then set the plate on a side table.

Juniper sat back on the stool. "It was thirty-seven years ago. For you humans, I think it was 1983. It was a child of Demeter- a demigod that I loved with everything in me."

Percy stared. He never realized that Juniper was a dryad, which meant she lived long enough to have an entire life before Grover.

Juniper rubbed her hands like she was washing them. "She was a daughter of Demeter. She was a hero. She was at this camp. She actually lived…right in Cabin #4."

Juniper looked past Percy, like she was looking straight at Demeter's Cabin.

"She wanted to take me back to the human world. She said she wanted to whisk me away to another land, like Australia or Ghana. It sounded wonderful, but I knew that I couldn't go too far away from my tree, or else…you know. But she said…she said she'd stay here with me. She said she would grab a bucket of Juniper berries and take me on short trips around the world."

Juniper's eyes found Percy's. "I did love her."

Percy dared not interrupt. He knew that this story probably didn't have a good ending.

Juniper took a breath. "She went on a quest. I couldn't wait for her to get back because we were going to take our first trip when she got back. She was supposed to be back by that Friday afternoon. I had my clothes and berries ready. I started waiting outside Friday morning, and waited there until one second after noon. I then waited for an hour. An hour turned into three. Three turned into the next day. The next day turned into four days. Four days turned into a visit from Chiron. Chiron came to this very tree to tell me what happened."

_What happened to her? _Percy was engrossed in Juniper's tale.

"She had gotten ripped apart and eaten by harpies during the quest."

Percy winced. Annabeth being killed by Riptide swiped through his mind.

Juniper's face had hardened like tree bark. For a moment, Percy could tell that she had seen the darkness he was feeling. That she, in fact, had that rage in her.

After a beat, her expression melted into a small smile.

"She was so silly," Juniper said to herself. "Always wanted to put a smile on others' faces."

Juniper looked at Percy's drink until Percy felt compelled to take a sip. It must have had some ambrosia in it, because afterwards, Percy felt just a little more comfortable talking to her.

Juniper looked to the colorful rug on the floor. "Death is inherently chaotic, Percy. It doesn't wait for anybody, nor does it respect anything. It doesn't care about how good a person you are. It is, essentially, uncontrollable. When Rose died, I wanted to…I wanted to kill those harpies with my bare hands. I wanted to hurt myself for it. I wanted to find some _control _among the chaos. To try to feel better."

Percy leaned in. "Did you ever find that control?"

Juniper shook her head. "Not in the way I wanted." She paused. "Do you feel like you want to bring her back?"

The air got cold. Percy's pen got heavy in his pocket. He thought about the Minotaur squeezing his mother into a million pieces.

Juniper nodded. "I see it all over your face. You want to bring her back."

He did.

"You can't bring her back, Percy. It took years for me to heal, but I finally did. Not by chasing her ghost, because that didn't do anything but pull me deeper underground."

Juniper glided over to Percy. He felt her warm hands cup his face. Juniper tilted his face up so he was looking right at her. Her skin, in the lighting, glowed like peridot. Her usually welcoming green eyes were full of determination. Percy hadn't seen that look since she was ready to charge the old satyr Maron and punch him for insulting Grover.

"I was able to heal by honoring her. I honored her through immortalizing her memory and her spirit in everything I do. I live my life the way she would want me to. I opened up to others, I fought that dark place I was in and, eventually-"

Juniper reached past Percy and showed him a nearby picture of her and Grover. "-I could move forward."

Percy didn't blink. His eyes began to burn.

"I know Rose is somewhere out there, probably reincarnated somewhere she always wanted to be. But, our time came and passed. It is the time for another story now. In a similar way, it's time for you to heal."

Percy felt like punching the wall, but he didn't want to ruin Juniper's home décor. "It's not fair," he whispered. "It's not fair."

Juniper shook her head. "It's not. Death rarely is fair. But, it is final. Annabeth was a great hero, and an even better person. She was amazing and always kind to me. Her death was…horrible to hear about. Even worse for Grover to see."

Percy's stomach twisted. "Grover…saw everything?" Grover probably thought he was a monster.

Juniper tilted her head. "Percy, you know that after the Council found Pan, they shifted to doing Pan's work- which included monitoring supernatural disturbances in the Wild. The entire Council felt a tremor in the Wild, and even got a warning from Artemis about a hurricane and a flood that almost destroyed that town you were in. Grover took your nice pegasus friend, whose name I forgot, and found you there. You were cradling Annabeth in the middle of this…disaster you were creating. He was the one who pulled you out. He was the one who calmed you down enough to extinguish the disaster. He was the one who gave Annabeth's body to the Fates, and flew you back here. He came back here and cried. I had to pull what happened out of him. But when I did, we cried together."

Percy looked down. Juniper angled his head so his eyes were on her. "I'm not asking you to snap out of the feelings you have. The feelings you have are valid, and they need to be accepted. You need to _feel _your feelings, not run away from them."

He tried to look away, anywhere but Juniper's understanding eyes.

Her grip remained soft and firm, though. "Hey. Hi. _Feel _those feelings. Acknowledge them. But you need to snap out of the urge to distance yourself from others. To isolate yourself from those who care about you. That will leave you in a place worse than…well, you've already been there. But talk to your friends. Talk to your family. Talk to Grover. He's hurting too, but he needs to know happened to her. Grover still doesn't quite know what happened that led him to having to give Annabeth's nearly headless body to the Fates. And you won't talk to him."

Percy knew that was probably devastating for Grover to see. Juniper was right- he needed to talk to Grover, and soon.

Juniper released Percy's face. He stood. His joints popped and cracked as he did. His entire body felt sore.

"Percy."

Percy stopped.

"What would Annabeth want for you? How will you immortalize her?"

Percy was quiet for a long time. He knew that she would have wanted him to talk to people. She would have told him that she was sorry for leaving him in this world alone. She would have told him to take the time he needed, and then to move on whenever he could. She would have told him to talk to her family, to tell them that she loved them. She would have told him that death is not something you play with, and that he shouldn't try to go get her back.

He could listen to her. She'd be somewhere in Elysium, or in another life somewhere, happy that Percy was on the road to peace.

Or he could find a way to bring her back.

He could save her like he saved his mother. He could fix things. He could make a deal with Hades or something. He would take a thousand baths in the Styx if it meant having her back for even one more day. She could yell at him all she wanted, but she would be alive.

She would find a way to bring him back if he died. After all, she searched the world for him when Hera took him away. She didn't quit.

She'd try to bring him back from the dead.

_Wouldn't she? _

Percy slid down the ladder and looked at the bark in front of him. He wasn't quite sure where Grover stepped out, and he really didn't want to give himself a concussion by trying to step through the wrong place. Percy put his hand out to the bark, and felt his hand touch the wall. He put his other hand out and felt bark as well. He started to move his hands around, trying to find the space where his hands would fall through.

Juniper's head popped up from the third level. "To your right!"

Percy looked to his right and shifted his efforts there. As he walked his hands to the right, his right hand completely fell through the tree. Percy stumbled out of Juniper's treehouse like stepping through mist. Suddenly, he was outside, looking at three individuals.

The first person he spotted was Grover. Grover looked surprised to see him there. His eyes turned from panicked to nurturing as he looked at Percy, like he wanted to give Percy a hug.

Percy nodded to Grover. Just with that nod, Grover seemed to know that he would hear the story from Percy.

The second person was Chiron. There was a dark shadow over Chiron's face, and he looked a lot older than the last time Percy had seen him. His eyes seemed distracted. His hair was a lot longer and messier as well. His tail flicked nervously, but his eyes sparked with relief. "Er…hello, Percy. I'm sorry for…everything that happened. I…truly am sorry."

Percy believed him. He couldn't imagine the number of demigods Chiron had mourned in his lifetime.

The third person was a tall man with tanned skin, a black sweater, and light blue pants. He wore a silver ring with a trident engraved in it. His black hair was cropped. His sea green eyes mirrored Percy's own, but radiated with much more power, warmth, and authority.

Percy didn't know why, but he immediately felt irritated. Under different circumstances, he may have been happy to see his father. "Poseidon."

Poseidon raised an eyebrow at Percy's tone. The evening air took on a bit more humidity in it, making Percy think about Montauk once more.

"Shall we take a walk?"

* * *

Percy followed Poseidon past the North Woods, past the creek, and onto the beach.

When Percy saw the water, he stopped.

Poseidon turned around.

Percy looked at his hands. He could have opened the conversation with Poseidon in a number of ways. However, the first thing he asked was, stupidly, "What happened?"

Poseidon looked around. "Mm?"

"What happened? To my powers? When I tried to stop Arachne using the water, it didn't respond to me. It was saltwater too, it wasn't like it was freshwater."

For a second, Poseidon looked over Percy like he was taking an x-ray of him. "I don't know, Percy. Water is alive, and holds a spirit to it. To control, bend it, and use it, my children must use a combination of concentration and will. Our true power, however, can sometimes be unlocked by sheer emotion, because that can be more unbridled than the waves itself. However, those emotions can be volatile and deadly."

Percy thought about willing the Zephyros Creek to rise and swirl when arguing with Thalia just a few hundred feet from where he and Poseidon were standing at that moment.

Percy felt his hands ball up. "So you're saying…that my emotions stopped me from using the water? Or that I didn't really want to?"

Poseidon put his hands up. "That's not what I'm saying," Poseidon said, in a tone softer than Percy had ever heard him take. "I'm saying that there could be a number of reasons why the water was unresponsive, from a lapse in concentration, to fear overtaking you at the last second, to something else. I'm not sure, and I'm sorry. I am sorry for your loss, son."

Percy opened his hands. He watched a camper almost slip on the Climbing Wall, but gather her footing. Her friends were at the base of the wall, cheering her on. She continued to climb up, steadily avoiding the lava flowing down.

"It wasn't just my loss," Percy said quietly. "It was the world's. We lost the most capable, most intelligent, most amazing demigod out there. All because I couldn't save her."

Poseidon put a hand on his shoulder. "Perseus. It is not your fault that my niece decided to let her pride get in the way of her logic. Or that Arachne decided to take Annabeth as recompense."

Percy looked at the water, and then back at Poseidon. "Your niece? You mean Athena? Zeus' brain child? The one who gambled her own daughter? Would you have done that?"

Poseidon narrowed his eyes.

Percy shook his head. "I mean, like, what are the consequences for such an act? How will she get punished?"

Poseidon let his hand fall and cringed. "Ah…Percy, technically, Athena held up her end of the oath on the River Styx. Subsequently, she will not receive any Olympian punishment for her actions. Her punishment is the loss-"

"You've got to be kidding-"

"-the _loss _that she also endured, Percy. You don't think she is suffering, too? You don't think she knows she messed up?"

Percy couldn't believe what he was hearing. "That she _messed up? _Misplacing a sword is _messing up. _Gambling your daughter for a stupid contest? That's sociopathic. That's…it's twisted."

Poseidon clenched his jaw. "Now, Percy-"

"I'm serious! I wanted to…I wanted…"

Poseidon raised an eyebrow. "You wanted to what?"

Percy weighed the possible consequences of diving into how he felt. He knew that if he opened that box, it couldn't be taken back. Even if Poseidon was his father, he was still a god. Percy didn't know what may happen if he was honest. He didn't even know where Poseidon's allegiances lay. Maybe Percy would find himself in an Olympian prison for saying this, but, he knew he may never get the chance to tell Athena to her face.

"I wanted to rip them apart. I wanted to tear them apart, slowly. Athena, Arachne, the spiders. I wanted to make them _hurt _for what they did."

Poseidon was silent for a few beats. Percy was worried he may have gone too far.

Poseidon looked at Percy. "Do you think that doing any of that- allowing your _wrath _to come out- would make you feel better?"

Percy's wolf flared. "Yes."

Poseidon nodded thoughtfully. "Would it have brought her back?"

It was Percy's turn to be silent.

Poseidon continued. "I see a lot of myself in you, Percy, both the good and the bad. I know that you probably hate the gods right now. You probably think we are irresponsible, horrible people."

"Would I be wrong?"

"Maybe not. But perhaps you are generalizing. Perhaps not all the gods are this way. Maybe some of them have good hearts." Poseidon stared at the amphitheater in the distance.

Percy followed his gaze, and his eyes immediately fell to the shroud burning at the amphitheater. The fire burned orange-golden. Even though the fire was far away, he could feel the heat from the beach.

It must have been Annabeth's shroud.

The heat from the fire wrapped around him, as if to comfort him.

Percy instantly thought of Hestia, and looked at Poseidon. Poseidon nodded at him as if to say, _Yep. You see her, too? _

"Fine. Maybe not all the gods are bad. But why are the gods, _er, _most of the gods like this? Why do they seem so…removed? You all have all these powers, and yet it's like you use humans for entertainment. It's _wrong._ I mean, why didn't you help? Where were you in all this?"

Poseidon continued to walk around the perimeter of the climbing wall. "I was handling a few conflicts at the hands of Kymopoleia when...it happened."

Percy shuddered as he followed. "Yeah, I guess that's a good excuse," Percy muttered.

"I understand your sentiment, though. Any of the other gods could have helped. Or, honestly, Athena could have just exercised better judgment. We are quite detached. Put candidly, Percy, gods operate with a different lens than humans do. Humans have very rigid perspectives surrounding what is right and wrong. What is considered right and wrong, however, changes from society to society."

Poseidon looked down at the ground and opened his hand. Percy blinked and saw small figures form from the sand. Poseidon continued. "For example. The Spartans, at one point, thought that it was righteous to kill those who disrespected them."

Sandman One picked up a spear from the ground and stabbed Sandman Two. Sandman Two began leaking sand, clutched its chest, and fell to one knee.

"People today, however, find it righteous to, ah, how do you all say it? Turn the other cheek?"

The spear dissolved from Sandman One's hand. Sandman One reached down and helped Sandman Two up.

"Someday, perhaps, the general perception of morality will change once more. Gods, however, have lived through all these paradigm shifts. They operate a little differently than humans do. We seem to operate within not only our own self-interest, but the interest of our own divine circles."

Sandman One and Two both grew robes and crowns, turned opposite ways, and put their hands on their hips. The ground under then elevated so it looked like they were standing on podiums.

"And Annabeth's well-being fell outside of their self-interest." Percy understood Luke's frustration with the gods.

Percy was so preoccupied that he almost missed Poseidon's next statement.

"The gods fight for what they want, Percy. Not unlike you right now."

Percy blinked. He looked at Poseidon. Poseidon's eyes were probing, more knowledgeable and experienced than those of Juniper's.

"Just like me?"

"Well, yes. You are probably thinking about how to bring her back, are you not?"

Percy looked away. "That's different."

"Is it? You are thinking about bending or even violating the laws of nature to bring a soul back from the Underworld. For your own benefit. Is that right? Is that using your power for good?"

"For _my _own benefit?! Annabeth was wrongly taken! She was sacrificed by her own mother, by _your_ own niece. And _I'm _wrong for wanting to bring her back? For wanting to save her?!"

Percy kicked the Sandmen out of existence. His eyes stung. "The world has to keep spinning without her in it. I'm not the only one who has lost things. Grover has. Juniper has. Thalia has. Chiron. Mr. Chase. Oh no…"

Percy couldn't bear to see Annabeth's father's reaction to hear that Annabeth was killed.

Poseidon put a hand on Percy's shoulder. "My son. Journeying into the Underworld wouldn't be 'saving' her. It would be ripping through the fabric of life and death to retrieve a soul."

Percy looked down at the remains of the Sandmen. They were gone, now reduced to grains. Part of him wished Poseidon would put them back together, but Percy somehow knew that it wouldn't happen. Percy had just proven Poseidon's point, destroying the little guys just because he felt angry.

Poseidon leaned closer. "You think that the gods you believe to be irresponsible and evil would allow this theoretically restored Annabeth to remain on this plane? You think they wouldn't find a way to not only punish you, but her as well?"

It was ridiculous to think that the gods would punish him and Annabeth for trying to undo Athena's actions.

_Ridiculous...but not out of the question. _

Percy's eyes were raw. "I can take whatever punishment they give me. But they'd punish her? You mean more than they already have?"

Poseidon's serious expression was more than enough confirmation. "They are already thinking of ways to punish Thalia for striking Athena with lightning."

Percy blinked. He had trouble believing it, but these were the same gods who sentenced Sisyphus to eternal labor, as well as cursed Tantalus with everlasting starvation. Granted, both people weren't the best people. But they also confined Calypso to an island, just for being the daughter of Atlas. They were also the ones looking to judge Thalia for her actions rather than Athena.

"Thalia?! Oh, no. I mean, Artemis will protect her, right? She didn't do anything wrong!"

Poseidon's face remained stoic. "Your friend is no longer with the Hunt. She is out of Artemis' protection."

Percy took a shaky exhale. "She shouldn't be alone right now." He couldn't imagine what she was feeling, with everything she had gone through. She probably blamed him as well.

Percy and Poseidon passed by the amphitheater. Percy could've sworn that he saw Hestia in the flames, surrounded by campers, satyrs, and nymphs- all listening to Chiron's speech with forlorn expressions. Percy felt like being there for Annabeth, but he couldn't. He didn't feel like having people point and whisper, _Look, it's Percy Jackson! Poor guy. _

Maybe Poseidon was right. Maybe bringing Annabeth back would bring about a bunch of consequences that would end up with Annabeth never forgiving him. He and Annabeth would end up as tragic Greek tales that demigods centuries from now would talk about, warning each other to not try to bring their dead girlfriends back to life.

He felt trapped. He couldn't win.

Percy looked at Poseidon. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Maybe bringing her back isn't the best idea."

Poseidon nodded. Percy could've sworn that he saw a microcosm of relief on his father's face. "Letting her rest will allow her to reincarnate in peace, and live out her next life in full."

Poseidon and Percy walked past Canoe Lake and towards Thalia's pine. Percy figured Poseidon was right- Annabeth would try for reincarnation rather than waiting for him.

"You know," Poseidon said. "I'm glad you turned down Zeus' offer of godhood. It was a smart decision."

Percy looked at him. "It doesn't seem so smart now," Percy muttered. "If I had the power of a god, I would've been able to save her."

Poseidon didn't seem too convinced. "You are right about us. We are impetuous. Being a god means that we lack a power humans have. It's the ability that makes demigods, and even humans, so much better than us."

Poseidon's eyes twinkled as the wind intensified. "Growth."

Percy shook his head. "Aren't the gods like thousands of years old? I'm sure you all have had plenty of time to grow."

"You would be surprised. Try being immortal for centuries and having enough power to do whatever you want. Along the way, you lose something inside yourself, the something that pushes you to be better. Conversely, humans go through life knowing that death is inevitable. They age, they suffer, they learn, and they grow from their experiences. We don't age and we don't suffer. Gods are constantly learning, but our learning only serves to reinforce our worst traits. I mean, look at me and Zeus. We still argue over Mother. Other gods feel so entitled to humans that they prey on them. Others start wars over petty disagreements. Others…gamble their children in a misguided attempt to prove their dominance. They do not _grow._"

Percy and Poseidon passed by the Big House. Percy felt some sand from the volleyball court get in his shoes. Poseidon seemed to experience the same thing, but didn't seem too worried about it.

He looked up and sighed. "That was one thing Annabeth had over all of us."

Percy stopped. He didn't think Poseidon ever had a conversation with Annabeth, much less an analysis of her character.

Poseidon kept his eyes forward. "She knew the value of forgiveness, grace, and growth."

Percy was at a loss of words. That was the first nice thing he heard Poseidon say, out loud, about Annabeth. It made him want to smile, for the first time in what felt like a long time.

"Percy, you need not focus on growth at this time. Focus on healing from this. It won't be easy, which is why-"

Percy stopped. He saw three familiar figures in the distance, and a blue Prius parked by them. He recognized that car anywhere.

_Paul. Estelle. _

_Mom. _

Percy's voice cracked, despite his best efforts. "Is that-"

Poseidon's mouth twitched. "Go to them, Percy. You need them now more than ever."

Percy walked fast enough to leave Poseidon behind. He started to jog, and saw his family come into view. His mother wore a blue and white long sleeve flannel with paint stains on them. Her hair was pulled back and her eyes had bags under it, as if she hadn't slept in a few days. Estelle wore a tiny jacket and a huge hat. She was standing by herself, waving at Percy. Paul wore a light green button down shirt, with a bomber jacket over it. His glasses glinted in the moonlight.

Percy moved from a jog to a sprint through the field. He zoomed past Half-Blood Hill. He ran until he passed through the border and right into his mother's open arms.

"Percy! Oh, Percy, my baby. Come here, I'm so sorry."

Percy felt himself exploding. "I lost her, Mom. I lost…"

Sally stroked the back of his neck. "Percy, we all lost her."

She smelled like her usual chocolate, licorice, and honey buns. The smell seemed compromised, though, as if nothing was supposed to smell good in a world without Annabeth.

"Percy. You can cry, if you need."

Percy thought about Juniper telling him to _feel _his feelings. The gates opened. Tears rushed down his face and down his grimace. His entire body began to shake. He felt his nose running. Once it started, Percy could barely stop it. He sobbed, feeling the pain that accompanied each sob and each breath. One after another, he felt the arms of his family surround him; Paul hugging him, Poseidon joining the hug, and even Estelle's tiny arms around his legs.

Percy mourned the loss of Annabeth, surrounded by his family.

Percy didn't know how long it was until they had broken the hug. When they did, though, Percy felt eleven years old again.

He sniffed and looked at Poseidon. His mother kept a hand on his shoulder.

Percy said, "You...would know where she is, wouldn't you? If she decided to reincarnate?"

Poseidon frowned and stroked his beard. "Hm…I suppose I could see. Her essence, logically, would remain the same regardless of what form she is in."

Percy nodded. "Then promise me you will watch over her. Whenever she reincarnates. Make sure she lives her life, all right? A full one. Please."

Poseidon looked at Sally behind Percy. His face turned grim and he nodded. "I will do what I can. By the way things have been going, she's one life away from the Isles of the Blest."

Percy's mouth made an _o_. "Wait…you need three good lives to go to the Isles. You mean that Annabeth was living her second life with us?"

Poseidon winced and backed away. "I have probably said too much. My point is that Annabeth has been consistently heroic in whatever situation she finds herself in, and she deserves a wonderful reincarnated life. I will advocate for her to be able to enjoy her life to the entirety. Even if it means," Poseidon cleared his throat. "Interacting with my brother."

Percy nodded and looked at Estelle. Her face was blank for a second, and then erupted into a smile. Estelle flung her arms in the air, and Percy picked her up.

"Hi, there," Percy said. Estelle tugged at his hair, and then pointed up. Percy looked up and saw the stars in the sky. He thought of all those that had fallen, including his best friend.

Percy looked at Poseidon, who was waving at Estelle.

"Can you or Artemis put her up there for me?" Percy asked as he beckoned his head to the stars.

Poseidon smiled and nodded. He raised his hand, and for a moment, Percy saw eight stars glow, in the shape of a hero wielding her dagger.

Percy let the tears fall. He sighed and made a decision.

He shifted Estelle to his other arm and took out Riptide. Percy handed the pen to Poseidon. "Can you take this? It won't appear in my pocket or anything if you're holding it, right?"

Poseidon regarded the pen for a second, and took it. "No. As long as I have possession of it, it won't come back to you."

Percy nodded. "All right. It definitely has a not-so-great history. I tried to change its energy by using it for good, but…"

He tried to block out the images of Annabeth. Maybe Riptide was a cursed blade.

Poseidon gripped the pen. "I understand. It does have a tendency to belong to the greatest heroes of the time, though."

Paul nodded respectfully at Poseidon, and began to lead Estelle back to the car. Sally patted Percy's shoulder and gave him a weak smile. "Thanks, Poseidon. We'll take good care of him."

Poseidon nodded, and Sally turned Percy around to walk to the car.

Percy heard Poseidon's voice behind them. "Shall I consider this your retirement?"

Percy stopped. His mother looked up at him with a million thoughts racing through her eyes. She rubbed his shoulder. "Maybe you shouldn't make a decision right now, while we're grieving."

Percy looked at her, looked at the sky, and turned to Poseidon. "Yeah. Consider me retired. It's what Annabeth would probably have wanted, at least for now."

Poseidon nodded respectfully.

"Let's go home," Sally said.

Percy turned his back on Camp Half-Blood and got into the car with his family. He allowed himself to cry when the song, "Lake Shore Drive," came on in the car.


	5. Spirit

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Thalia

_Thalia's Guide for How to Get From Virginia to New York For Free, For Dummies:_

_1\. Trek from James River to Bolling Island, the historic plantation house, without getting torn up by insects. _

_2\. Find some weird family who actually wanted to tour Bolling Island. _

_3\. Steal their Uber by hopping in the back seat while wearing invisibility hat. _

_4\. Don't feel bad, because it belonged to a family who was weird enough and rich enough to tour Bolling Island. _

_5\. Scare the steroids out of the driver by taking off the invisibility hat. _

_6\. Use the Mist to make your dead friend's knife look like a gun. _

_7\. Point it at now steroid-less driver. Say, "Drive, unless you want three bullets in your oversized head." Forget to give a location. _

_8\. When the driver asks, "To where?", say real tough-like, "Central Park, New York. Don't make me ask again." Put back on invisibility hat. _

_P.S.- If driver asks if you're a ghost, say yes. I mean, who doesn't want to be a ghost?_

"Just keep going," Thalia spat.

The driver, sweating like he was driving Apollo's sun-car, uttered a meek _uh-huh_, and continued down Fifth Avenue.

If she wasn't on a mission, she might have laughed. The driver wasn't quite someone that looked like he was easily intimidated. He was a big guy who looked like he was from the part of Hawaii where they fed the children raw sticks and dragon eggs (exclusively). His muscles bulged underneath his Star Wars t-shirt. His right arm had a tattoo sleeve of a black dragon, and his neck brandished another tattoo that said _Gym Geek. _

She figured that even people that looked like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's older brother get intimidated by guns.

Six hours later, they were in the heart of New York, circling the perimeter of Central Park. Thalia couldn't remember, for the life of her, where the Door of Orpheus stood. It had been years since Percy mentioned it. She only remembered him saying something like, "_Central Park, man. Has everything from magicians to doors to the Underworld." _

Thalia fought a yawn. She hadn't slept in a while, and her entire body was getting revenge. She was feeling lightheaded, she could barely focus on the road, and the yawns were attacking her ruthlessly.

To make matters worse, Thalia's stomach decided to growl.

Loudly.

Thalia grabbed her stomach as if holding it would make it quiet.

The driver nervously looked behind him. "You, _uh, _you okay back there? You need me to stop? There's a great hoagie place that my cousin told me about-"

Thalia put the handle of Annabeth's knife to the driver's head. Even though he couldn't see her, she prayed that it felt just enough like a gun barrel to shut him up. "Just shut up and keep going."

He decided to shut up and keep going.

After a few minutes, something weird happened. The hairs on her arm stood up, and she felt like someone had injected her with liquid nitrogen. She craned her neck and looked out the window. They had crossed into southern Central Park. They were approaching a bridge that peered over a body of water. The body of water, although almost relaxing to look at, seemed to radiate some strong energy. It was like all of Camp Half-Blood was doing a synchronized jig together in the middle of the pond.

Thalia shivered.

_The Underworld. _

Many people were circling the pond leisurely. They were walking their dogs, holding hands with one another, and relaxing- as if they were not circling an entrance to the Underworld.

Thalia unbuckled her seatbelt. "Stop here."

The car jerked to a stop, nearly sending Thalia through the front windshield. The driver was met with several angry New Yorkers' honks, curses, and yelling. Thalia saw the driver look in the rearview mirror at the cars behind him.

"Don't worry about them," Thalia said. "Worry about me. Unlock the door."

The doors unlocked. Thalia hopped out. Before she closed the door, she leaned back in the car. "Say one word about this, and I will come haunt your ass again. Now go."

The driver whimpered, "_Baba Yaga, Baba Yaga_," as he sped off into New York's Sunday morning traffic.

Thalia watched her superstitious chauffeur run a red light and get about three tickets before he and the vehicle was out of sight.

Thalia leapt off the bridge. About a half-second into falling, she realized that the bridge was a lot higher up than she had anticipated.

With a cry, she landed _hard _on her feet in a pile of bushes. Her legs couldn't support the impact; her knees buckled, and she fell headfirst into a shrub. Pain circulated through her legs. Thalia was surprised they weren't broken.

Thalia blew a leaf off her face and carefully climbed up. Her legs ached, but could still walk. No one, however, seemed to really look her direction. She did scare the living hell out of some birds.

Being mortal sucked. Thalia had gone from being the Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis to being homeless, mortal, chronically in pain, and alone in a matter of days. It was better, however, than being the mindless servant of a god that happened to care more about ancient laws than being a halfway decent person.

Thalia started walking on the trail that circled the perimeter of the Pond. She passed some workers near an _Electric: An EMCOR Company _truck. Her heart began to beat in double-time; she never liked walking past older men. They always had something to say about her face or her body, and she _really _didn't feel like crippling anybody today.

To her surprise, the men didn't say anything when she passed. They didn't comment about her dirty clothes or her ratty hair. They didn't even give her a second glance. Thalia was confused, but decided to count her blessings.

Thalia continued to walk. Her bracelet was weighing on her wrist heavier than usual. She wondered if it was some reaction Aegis was having to the energy nearby.

Across the water, Thalia saw a young girl pushing down what looked like her brother. The boy got up, laughed, and tackled the girl. Their mother sprayed them both with water, chastising them for being so foolish in public. The woman turned and said something to the father, who was reading a book with a purple cover. Thalia had to fight a smile- even if she didn't have that life, she was glad they did. They'd probably grow up to be normal people. They'd mature, go to school, make friends, fall in love, get a job they tolerate, and buy a house or something.

Thalia couldn't lie- when Jason ran away, she was devastated. The tiniest part of her, however, wished that he had stayed gone. Part of her wished that he found a family like that, and could enjoy his normal life with better parents.

They say people have to work with the hand they were dealt- but if Jason had found a nice family, he would have had a chance to switch hands. The gods, however, didn't quite allow that to happen.

Thalia looked back forward. A gasp escaped her, and she sidestepped onto the grass to barely miss a woman running while pushing a stroller. If Thalia had been a half second delayed in her reaction, she would have collided with the stroller.

"Hey!" Thalia cried out. "I'm walking over here! Come on, lady."

The woman seemed shell-shocked by Thalia's exclamation. The woman jumped, screamed, tripped, and nearly catapulted her stroller. A nearby King Charles Spaniel dog began barking; not at the woman, but right at Thalia. The dog's owner began yelling at the Spaniel. The woman, thinking the dog owner was yelling at her, began yelling back. The baby in the stroller, of course, began to cry.

Thalia cringed and took off running towards a nearby tree. She couldn't figure out why everything was so weird.

Was it the Door? Was it the Mist?

Thalia felt sweat collect on the brim of her hat. Thalia took off the hat and dabbed her forehead with her sleeve.

When she put the hat back on, she realized (and remembered) that she was wearing Annabeth's cap.

Thalia cursed._ How could I forget that I'm invisible? _

She waited behind the tree for a few minutes until the noise receded and the coast was otherwise clear. After a beat of silence, Thalia peeked her head out from behind the tree. The woman was continuing her war with the Spaniel and its owner.

She began to feel that same liquid nitrogen feeling. Seventy degrees to her right, in the distance, were a pile of boulders that was calling out to her. Thalia's ears began ringing, her teeth started chattering, and she suddenly became very aware of her mortality.

_Is that the Door of Orpheus? _

As she thought that, her senses went haywire- as if to confirm her suspicion.

Thalia made sure her Annabeth's cap was secure, and crept towards the boulders.

Nothing happened.

Logically, she knew that it couldn't be this easy. There must be some kind of guard, trap, or monster. There must be something that makes it hard.

Nothing in her world was this easy.

Thalia got closer.

Nothing happened.

It couldn't be _this _easy.

_Right? _

Thalia was about a third of the way there when she spotted a well-dressed guy leaning against a nearby tree. Thalia was sure he wasn't there before.

He wore a brown peacoat over a white dress shirt, black slim cut jeans, and black boots. His black hair hung almost over his eyes. His skin was extremely pale, and his eyes were sunken. Even from a little ways away, his eyes radiated darkness.

When the hair on Thalia's arms stood up, she realized that _he _was the source of power around here, not the Doors themselves.

Thalia cursed. It wasn't going to be that easy. Getting into the Underworld was _never _going to be that easy.

She had to face the son of Hades, Nico Di Angelo.

While she was invisible, Thalia took the chance to size Nico up. She hadn't seen him in a while. He was taller now; still skinny, but he filled out his outfit uncharacteristically well, as if he had gotten his clothes precisely tailored. He wielded no weapon, but looked so out of place in Central Park that it seemed like he was there to collect a soul.

She hoped that wasn't the case.

Nico politely waved at her. "Hey. How have you been?"

Thalia almost waved and answered back, until she remembered she was invisible. She wouldn't make that mistake again. Thalia looked at Nico, at the boulders, then back at him. She started to creep towards the doors, hoping that he wouldn't see her.

Nico cleared his throat. "You know I can see your, _uh, _life aura moving towards there, right? Even if I can't quite…see you, I still know where you are."

Thalia froze. She didn't know if Nico knew it was her or not.

Nico cocked his head and made direct eye contact with her. Thalia wasn't sure how he could do that. "How have you been?"

Thalia cursed again. Nico was no pushover. She took out her spear and took off her hat. "Hey, Nico. I've…been better."

Nico didn't seem surprised. "Thalia. What brings you to the Pond in Central Park?"

Thalia wasn't sure if it was her or something else making the air humid and tense. She gestured around her. "I mean, it's a nice day, right? I can't take a stroll?"

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Take a stroll? As an Olympian fugitive? The gods could come for you at any second, you know. For what you did."

Thalia straightened up. "Let them come. They know where I am. I'm sure I smell tasty enough to attract monsters and gods alike. But there's a reason they haven't struck me down yet. And it's probably because I have some part to play in their little games."

Despite Nico's relaxed posture, Thalia maintained a tactical distance. She noticed that he had successfully triangulated himself; Nico, Thalia, and the Doors formed a near-perfect equilateral triangle. If he wanted to stop her, this was one of the best spots for him to be in. He could get to the Doors or Thalia in the same amount of time. She needed to get closer to the Doors to get an advantage on him.

Nico lowered his voice. "Thalia, I know what happened. And I'm sorry for your loss. I was…surprised, to say the least, to see her in the Underworld."

Thalia forgot that Nico was the type of person to hang out with ghosts more than other people. "Did you see her?"

She hated how desperate her voice sounded. Nico's expression softened. "Thalia, why are you here?"

Thalia nodded. "Right. Uh, a few years ago, you, Percy and I were brought together by Persephone to run an errand for her. You remember what that was for?"

If it was possible, Nico's face paled even further in recognition. He stiffened like the tree behind him. "Thalia…you can't be talking about-"

"The Underworld has a lot of gems I can use, right? I wouldn't say no to Hades' sword and a swim in the River Styx."

Nico grimaced, like he was hoping the conversation wouldn't go this way. "Thalia, you can't just take a dip in the Styx. You can't take Hades' sword. And most of all, you can't bring her back."

The morning air remained frigid. Thalia felt her heart pumping with adrenaline.

"I'm going to save her, Nico. I know the sword can help with that. To actually be able to follow through with everything, though, I kind of…I need the power to be able to withstand the Olympians. I know they will probably try to, I don't know, _smite _me. That's where the Styx comes in. I'll be invulnerable enough to survive at least for a little bit to ensure Annabeth's safe return to this plane. And you-"

Thalia pushed past her own reluctance and moved towards Nico with her hand outstretched.

"-can help me."

She knew that moving towards him would give Nico a better position to stop her or beat her to the Doors. That, however, was a risk she was willing to take if it also got him to let down his guard a bit.

It was easier thought than done, though. Walking towards him was like moving towards a living Aegis.

Nico watched Thalia approach for a beat, looked at her hand, and then back to her. "No."

Thalia ground her teeth. Luke and Jason always told her that she didn't like being told _no_. "Excuse me?"

"Thalia. I'm not going to let you break into the Underworld and bring Annabeth back to life. It breaks the natural order of _samsara, _the cycle of death and rebirth. Plus, I'm a son of Hades. Doing that would kind of be the worst."

Thalia couldn't stop herself from staring. She was still processing Nico's claim that he wasn't going to _let _her save Annabeth. She hadn't met a person in her life that could stop her from doing anything.

"You let Percy do it. You even led him through that journey."

Nico looked away at the mention of Percy's name. "That was different. Percy didn't even want to go- I had to convince him that it was the best idea. I will admit that it probably wasn't my best idea. But that was for an emergency."

Thalia felt herself seething. She forced out, through gritted teeth, "This _is…_an emergency."

"No. This is a misguided attempt to cope with the death-"

"-the _murder-_"

"-of an ally. Percy going in the Styx was the only way he could have stood up to, a, well, _powered-up _Luke."

Thalia shook her head. "That wasn't Luke," she said. "That was Kronos."

Nico slightly flinched. "Thalia, please. Let's not throw names around like that. Especially not now."

Thalia had to hold herself back from stuffing Nico in a tree. "Look. You said so yourself. I'm a fugitive from the gods. I need help. Annabeth, as you know, was collateral in a situation that had nothing to do with her. Achilles didn't have any kind of emergency. Thetis visited the Styx to protect her family. I'm doing this to protect mine."

Nico sighed. "I suppose you haven't met the ghost of Achilles quite yet, Thalia, so I'll be the one to tell you. The Curse of Achilles is not a superpower. It's a true curse, one that amplifies your weaknesses as much as it maximizes your strength. The Curse would be too much for you to bear, Thalia."

"I can take it," Thalia countered. "You don't know the kind of pain I've been able to live through."

"I don't dispute that. But I know that because anyone who _wants _to go to the River Styx for their own self-interest would be consumed by the River."

She didn't have time for this. Every second Annabeth was down there is a greater chance that she was lost forever. Thalia pointed her spear at Nico. She initially had no intentions of following through on hurting Nico, but she needed to get moving.

"Let me take the consequences for my own actions, Nico. You can't make that decision for me. Take me to Hades' sword, now. You can tell the gods I made you."

Nico was silent. Thalia took a gamble and pushed. "We both know how powerful the weapon is. It can send a soul to the Underworld. It can also-"

"Release any soul," Nico finished miserably. "Yeah, I get it."

"I can use it to save Annabeth, who, if I recall, you didn't hate. I could even bring back your family."

She found herself circling him with her spear outstretched. "You remember what happened to your family, right? Zeus tried to kill you. He tried to kill Bianca. You two barely survived. He _did _kill your mother, didn't he? One out of three, I guess."

Central Park went silent. Thalia knew Nico's mother was a sore subject. Nico would either blow up, or she would have an opening to strike once again.

This morning, though, seemed to be full of gambles.

Nico said nothing, though. Thalia decided to continue.

"Look, I'm sorry that happened to you. Losing a parent is…it's never easy. But that's what the gods do. The gods made sure that you grew up without a mother. Hades put you and Bianca at the Lotus Hotel, making you children out of time. Zeus didn't quite kill my mother, but he might as well have. She wasn't quite right in the head, and his greed only made it worse."

Thalia stopped in front of Nico. She tossed her spear to her side. She was having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that they were almost the same height. "Nico, you did what most other demigods do. You put your head down and did your best to make Daddy proud. In doing that, though, you accepted their treatment of you. They take your family away from you, and you bow to them when they walk into a room. Is that what you want for yourself? To let the gods walk all over you so long that it serves them?"

Thalia once again put her hand out. "I remember a kid who lost his older sister, and blamed the people around him for what happened. I remember a kid who had the will to fight back long ago. A kid who tried to bring his sister back. A kid-"

Thalia thought back to the concept of _a soul for a soul_. "-who almost succeeded."

As she was talking, Thalia realized that Nico perhaps understood something of what she was going through.

"Zeus. Hades. Hera. Athena. Ares. Persephone," Thalia listed. "All horrible people who twist demigods around their fingers for their own gain. This time, we could actually follow through. You could be free. You could be your own man, rather than Hades' little pawn. We could be liberators."

Nico looked at the ground for a second. Thalia's breath was stuck in her throat. If she got Nico on her side, this would be a whole lot easier. Even Thalia had to admit that Nico was one of the scariest demigods she has ever seen in action.

He nodded after a while. "That was a good speech," he admitted. "But, I'm going to have to pass."

Thalia blinked and backed up. "What?"

Nico took off his coat and brushed the dirt off it. "Good speech, but I've heard it before. I hang out with the Underworld ghosts a lot. What you're saying is no different from what they tell me all the time."

Thalia kicked up her spear and caught it as she backed up. She tried to slightly move towards the Doors, so she could make a dash if she needed.

Nico threw his coat back on. "They all make their cases to me, as the son of Hades. And I always give the same answer. Yes, the gods can be selfish. They can be as impetuous as humans. But, they are a lot more powerful, and not to be played with. They are a lot better than the Titans, and they are generally the lesser of the two evils if we're comparing. Whether you like them or not, we need to play by their rules while they are in control."

"Annabeth is your friend, though."

"She was."

Thalia didn't like the past tense Nico was using. "What if it was Will? What would you do?"

Nico frowned. "I…don't know."

Thalia used two hands to level her spear once more. "You don't know if Annabeth is your friend, or what you'd do if it was Will?"

This wasn't going the way she wanted. Part of her wanted to just shake Nico and tell him, _Your father doesn't care about you! The gods don't either. Do what you think is right! _

Nico began to walk towards her. Thalia didn't like how anxious she started to get.

"Thalia, even if you get past me, get past Persephone, get past Hades, _and _get past his defenses, the gods may find a way to take back what you get with that sword. And you may have wished that you would have not taken this course of action."

Thalia watched his body language. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that was a threat."

Nico stopped and thought for a second, as if he wasn't sure whether or not he was actually threatening her. "It's a warning, I suppose."

Thalia looked at Nico's hands. She knew he usually used it in combat, but it was free of any weapons. "You know, I used to wonder why you never brought back Bianca. You had the power to. Now, I know. There's something in you that feels like you deserve to be used and hurt. That thing keeps you from actually fighting for something you love. That's why you didn't save Bianca."

_That _got under his skin. Nico's eyes glowed white, and Thalia felt a strong force pull her from behind. She looked behind her to see that she was being pulled towards a nearby tree. More accurately, the shadows underneath the branches reached and grasped at her, pulling her into the shade. Thalia tried to fight it by moving towards the Doors, but it was to no avail. It was like a hundred people were pulling her back using five large ropes. In a moment of panic, Thalia realized what he was trying to do.

He was trying to force her to shadow travel. She didn't know if that was possible, nor had she ever seen it before. But she knew that if she gave in, Nico would be able to teleport her to Timbuktu and leave her there with no money, no phone, and no resources. Worst of all, she would be too far away from the Door to be able to make it back.

Nico chanted phrases in Ancient Greek, and the shadows' pull strengthened. Thalia feet left the ground.

Thalia desperately thrust her spear into the ground.

Bad news: this move nearly tore her arms out of their sockets.

Good news: she was able to stop her movement towards the shadows.

For a hot second, Thalia was suspended horizontally in the air, with her feet being dragged into the shadows and the spear serving as an anchor.

Thalia looked at Nico, whose body emanated a paranormal energy aura. It made him look like a phantasm.

Thalia had an idea. She knew it was risky, but she had gotten this far in life by taking risks, not playing it safe.

She tore the spear out of the ground. For a moment, she was being pulled into the tree. Thalia yelled, charged her spear with static electricity, and shot a concentrated blast in Nico's direction.

Suddenly, the shadows stopped pulling her, and she fell straight to the ground like a sack of fruit.

_Nico. _

Thalia scrambled up and exhaled once she saw Nico standing unharmed. His eyes, however, were wider and more expressive than she had ever seen from him. His mouth hung agape.

About three inches from him to his left was the tree he was leaning on, sliced nearly in half. The tree now looked like the letter _Y_. Each one of the newly formed halves of the tree was singed with luminescent blue-white energy. Nico turned around to the tree. He backed up as the tree groaned and broke in two. The left side of the tree fell down with a _THOOM. _

Nico watched it fall, and then looked back at Thalia. "I really don't want to do this."

Thalia caught her breath. "Don't…ever try to throw me in those shadows again."

Nico put his hands up.

Thalia sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't want to either. It would just be a lot easier if you just let me through. You don't have to even lead me, I'll find it myself. You can just drop me off."

Nico shook his head. "Thalia, I'm telling you. You wouldn't make it, and I won't let you try."

Thalia straightened up and used her spear to scratch her shoulder. There he went, again, telling her he wouldn't _let _her do something. "And what happens if I do try? Would you kill me?"

Nico looked her up and down like he was trying to take an x-ray. "You won't die today, Grace."

Thalia tensed. She knew he was trying to get her to lose control, but she wouldn't let him. Her mother's surname was just that- her mother's name. It represented a woman who was the definition of instability, and who wasn't fit to be a mother.

"Oh, good. I generally like not dying," Thalia said. She quickly moved into an open area, not surrounded by any trees. Thalia activated Aegis, and watched as it rotated into existence. Her senses, once again, were in overdrive. She felt like there were several potential threats, as if twelve swordsmen were around her at once.

Nico reached to the ground. A small vortex of glowing white energy came from the ground and met Nico's hand. It swirled and grew into a four-foot-long column of energy. As quickly as it came, the energy collected and turned into Nico's Stygian sword. The sword was adorned with frost. Pale energy peeled off the sword as he spun it.

A flash of motion zipped by her feet. Thalia nearly stabbed down on instinct, but stopped when she saw a golden retriever running around her.

Nico frowned and put down his sword.

A college-age guy ran up to the dog, apologizing to Thalia. He completely ignored the spear she was holding. "I'm so sorry. Come here, girl. Come here!"

The dog bounded to the guy, and he ruffled her fur. Together, they walked back towards the Pond.

Thalia looked at Nico, who still had his eyes on the guy and the dog. Thalia took the opportunity to run to the Doors. After about three steps, she sensed the air curve and heard something whistling towards her. Thalia used her left hand to raise Aegis and block a good-sized rock.

"Really? Throwing roc-" Thalia was interrupted by a barrage of black rocks. She put Aegis up at the last second and barely saved herself from being incapacitated. Thalia leveled Aegis towards Nico and crouched behind it so her being was completely shrouded. The rocks continued to pelt her shield; some hit harder than others. They seemed to vary in sizes and weights, as if Nico was just taking any rocks or boulders that were around him.

Thalia felt a few familiar whistles and turned her head to see several rocks coming from behind. Thalia instinctively turned Aegis to block them, only to be hit in the shoulder by a large boulder coming from Nico's direction. It was quickly accompanied by a sharp rock that hit her in the back of the head.

Thalia fell face first to the ground. The rocks flew harmlessly over her.

She felt two hands grab her ankles. Thalia yelled and turned on her back. In doing so, she wrenched her feet out of their grasp. She opened her eyes to see a few skeleton hands were flailing around, probably looking to reunite with her ankles. Thalia scrambled back in horror; it was like every zombie movie she showed Jason when they were young.

After a few seconds, she realized the hands were not doing much but flapping around. She stood, took her spear and swung it at the hands, breaking them apart.

She knew she had to get on offense. Nico would continue with this onslaught if she let him.

Thalia got up to see Nico levitating some more rocks. Thalia let her anger corrupt the air around her. A gust of wind knocked Nico off balance, but not before a few boulders flew towards her. Thalia used Aegis to break the two boulders in front of her. She then dodged another rock, and used her spear to bat away the last one.

Nico re-oriented himself, and raised his hand. The ground shook around her once more, and skeleton warriors began to erupt from the ground like the spiders on the beachside. The warriors wore torn-apart uniforms from different periods of history; Thalia never thought she'd see Union soldiers fighting alongside Athenians. The warriors held simple martial weapons, and charged her at once. Thalia yelled and attacked the warriors. She stabbed one in its neck and beheaded another. Thalia felt herself falling into flow once more; the air once again took a blue tinge to it as she felt the adrenaline supporting her.

Her spear and shield were a deadly one-two combo. Thalia used Aegis to cut skeletons in half, used her hands to rip heads off skeletons, and used her spear to take the skeletons' legs from them.

Thalia didn't know how long it took her to beat the entire group of skeletons. All she knew was that there was one more left. It wielded nunchuks. It came at her, with its teeth chattering.

She blocked the nunchuk strike with Aegis, and then shoved the skeleton off balance with the shield. She then tackled the skeleton with a battle cry. She could only think of Arachne as she took the skeleton's teeth and jaw, and ripped them apart with a satisfying _craaaaaack. _

Thalia scrambled up and caught herself seething. She looked around, and made eye contact with Nico. Nico looked slightly worn out, but took a deep breath and raised his arms.

"No!" Thalia cried. But it was too late. The skeletons began to put themselves back together, reinforced by even more skeletons coming out of the ground.

Thalia spun her spear and roared at the undead warriors. The warriors attacked, and Thalia continued her slaughter. Her assault now included her powers; she used static electricity to shoot through a few skeletons while she was cutting through others.

It wouldn't be that easy, though- Thalia noticed that rocks were falling from the now cloudy sky, occasionally flattening the skeleton warriors. Thalia found herself doing a dangerous dance; trying to cut down the skeleton warriors while trying to avoid head trauma by boulder.

For the slightest of seconds, Thalia asked herself how she could escape this.

The skeletons kept coming, and Nico seemed like he was able to bring them back whenever he wanted.

For the slightest of seconds, she felt like surrendering.

Then, she remembered why she was doing this.

_Annabeth. _

Thalia began to tap into her rage she had about her best friend's murder. Her anger towards Athena. Her bloodlust towards Athena. The tinge in her eyesight bled into her surroundings. The area took on a light blue ozone-type haze that surrounded the entire Pond. The air began to supercharge with static electricity. The skeletons began to shake.

The streetlights shorted.

The glowing signs flickered dark.

The cars slowed in the area.

Lightning fell from the sky, cut through a boulder heading towards Thalia, and surged through her like a conductor. A few milliseconds later, Thalia found that she was holding the lightning inside of her rather than immediately redirecting it. Her heart twisted as she tried to contain the energy. It was almost too much for her; she felt the lightning frying her nerves and charring her insides burning.

Thalia, however, repeated Annabeth's name in her mind. She couldn't let this overwhelm her. She needed to get to the Doors.

For Annabeth.

Thalia yelled, and the pain turned into power. Thalia willed the lightning to bend to _her _will, and in the next moment, she found herself in the middle of a web of electricity. She looked at Nico, who was backing up quickly.

She tilted her head. _Oh, no, you don't. _

Thalia sent a pulse through the web. In a sickening _KRAKOOM, _Thalia activated the web of lightning around her. The lightning arcs simultaneously connected the soldiers and destroyed them at the same time. The lightning also shocked Nico. Thalia felt nothing but dizziness as she channeled this effect.

Then, it stopped as soon as it started.

Thalia fell to one knee. She looked around her; the people in Central Park were running to take cover from the sudden lightning storm that had arrived in the area. People were comparing their phones to see if it was their service that made the phone crash, or something else. Shop owners were outside their stores, investigating what was going on with their signs.

Nico was on the ground, but the rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was breathing. She saw him try to fish something out of his coat.

Thalia was torn- if she kept fighting him, she knew she may end up dead. Even worse, she may not be able to bring Annabeth back.

_Then again, Nico said I wouldn't die today. Maybe I can use that to my advantage. _

Thalia looked at the Doors- they hadn't moved or been affected by Thalia's lightning web. She could make a dash for the Doors and try to slip in while Nico was occupied.

Or she could take Aegis and finish the job. A well-placed hit with the front of the shield would put Nico down for a few hours.

Thalia cursed herself. Why was she thinking this way? Nico was a friend- they have fought on the same sides for years. Sure, they weren't the closest, but she wasn't here to seriously hurt Nico. She was here to get to the Underworld.

"Sorry, Nico," Thalia said under her breath as she sprinted to the Doors.

Thalia heard Nico scream, "NO."

Thalia was suddenly stopped mid-stride. Even though she wanted to move towards the boulders, it was like her insides were held in place. Thalia painfully turned her head to see Nico with his hand out towards her.

_Is he...controlling my bones?_ She'd heard that Nico had some authority over bones, but she didn't think that it extended to people who were still alive.

The effort seemed to wear Nico out, though. He was shaking. Sweat covered his forehead. With a cry, he released her. Thalia tripped over the sudden continuance of her stride, and almost fell.

Nico, in a flash, shot a blast a pure black energy from his sword. The blast hit Thalia and propelled her fifteen feet back. It was intensely cold and hurt her body like a high-pressure jet of water. It also, somehow, knocked the wind out of her. Thalia felt exhausted, like the blast had taken three years off her life.

Her eyes felt heavy. She just needed to take a nap.

_Just one little nap, _Thalia thought as she closed her eyes.

"NO!" Thalia yelled as she forced her eyes opened. When she opened them, though, she thought her eyes were still closed. She blinked, but it was still pitch black. She blinked again, but she could only see endless darkness.

It didn't look she was still in Central Park. Thalia couldn't see Nico anywhere.

She looked down. She couldn't see anything, but she could still feel herself holding Aegis and her spear. She felt slightly more comfortable with that.

Another ice cold blast of energy hit her in the side not obstructed by Aegis. Thalia yelled and fell. She then heard Nico's voice, projected throughout the area like it was through an intercom. She fought to get up once more- she couldn't afford to let the tiredness overtake her. Thalia stood.

"_You're out of your depth, Thalia Grace_."

Another blast hit her in her back, and she fell ten feet forward.

"_You couldn't survive a trip to the Underworld alone, Thalia. You have too many ghosts._"

Thalia scrambled up and held Aegis in front of her. There was a slight delay, but a blast hit her in her other side.

"_You couldn't make it through the Styx even if you wanted to, Thalia. Achilles had his mother. Percy had Annabeth. You…have nothing_."

Thalia struggled to get up. She tried to hold Aegis up, but she stumbled and fell. Thalia felt nothing but panic- these attacks were coming from everywhere. Nico was even trying to attack her with his words.

She just wanted to sleep. She felt so tired.

So tired.

Thalia fought her exhaustion with a yell. She stood. She held up Aegis in front of her. She felt a sensation on her shoulder, and turned her shield in that direction with a scream. "Where are you?!"

Thalia turned behind her with Aegis in front of her. "Show yourself!"

Thalia felt nothing but anger. He could be anywhere.

"WHERE ARE-"

The back of Thalia's left leg was blasted. She fell once more. Thalia punched the ground and yelled in frustration.

"_You have no one that would pull you out. You'd be consumed by the river, eaten alive by all the betrayals and broken promises you've experienced._"

Thalia felt nothing but tiredness. She remembered hearing that sleep was the cousin of death. That phrase took on new meaning here. She couldn't fall asleep.

She couldn't, however, make herself get up. She was too drained of energy.

Nico's voice hit like another blast. "_You really want to know why I'm here?_"

Thalia fought to hold on to her consciousness. She flinched when she heard Nico's voice again.

"_Even in death, Thalia, Annabeth was two, three steps ahead of everyone. She knew you or Percy may be coming for her. She wanted me to keep an eye on here and California, and to knock some sense into you all if you showed up_."

"Liar," Thalia whispered. He couldn't have talked to Annabeth. Annabeth would have wanted to be saved. How could Nico tell Thalia what Annabeth wanted? He didn't raise her. He didn't protect her. He didn't sacrifice himself for her.

He didn't know her.

Nico continued. "_I was worried that you and Percy would show up at the same time. Maybe you all could have gotten through. But here you are. By yourself._"

Thalia felt tears sting her eyes. She knew she was doing the right thing. She _had _to believe she was doing the right thing.

She felt herself passing out. She couldn't lose, though.

She just needed to push through for one more minute.

Just one more second.

Thalia needed to get up. She needed to stand, and fight for what she loved.

Thalia used Aegis for support as she hobbled up, stumbling before straightening up. Thalia knew Nico was not anything to play with. She could match him in daylight, but when it was pitch black as it was now, he had the advantage. She couldn't see the black bolts he so graciously sent to her. She couldn't see him. She was by herself.

An image of Reyna covered with leaves lingered in her mind.

She needed to use her senses.

Thalia closed her eyes. Having her eyes open only encouraged her body to rely on the information her eyes perceived. She needed to focus on her body.

She heard Nico's voice. "_I'm not surprised you're still standing. You are definitely Jason's sister. You two have that same strength. Or maybe stubbornness. But leave here, Thalia. Use that strength to cope with Annabeth's death_."

Thalia felt a current of cold coming at another one of her unprotected angles. She felt the hairs on her neck and her left arm raise. She then let her body respond. Her right arm shifted Aegis to her left and blocked the blast.

Thalia fought the urge to celebrate. She needed to concentrate. She needed to think.

Nico wasn't powerful enough to teleport them into another realm, but she knew Nico had some control over shadows. She theorized they must still be in Central Park, but Nico had just thrust her into darkness like when she would throw an old blanket over Jason's face as kids. The blanket meant that Jason could no longer see, but it didn't eliminate the bedroom. She needed to keep her nose open for bark and leaves; she needed to stay away from trees. She didn't come all this way to be finessed into a shadow travel.

Shooting a blast of electricity around her was too risky- she didn't want to hurt a civilian or damage some more cars. She needed to use something else.

Another current of cold rippled towards her from behind. Thalia turned to block the blast with Aegis. Thalia immediately countered by tapping into the air currents around her.

Strong wind began to blow through the area. Thalia initially had trouble breathing, but gave herself an air pocket to resist the winds' effects. Thalia continued to push the air currents around the area until the air in the shadow-scape was circling Thalia in a large vortex.

Thalia maintained the winds for a minute or two. She watched as the darkness began to fall away. It melted and dripped off her vision to reveal Central Park once again. Thalia, in her clearing vision, saw a person clutching their throat in the wind. Thalia snarled and reached out her hand. She concentrated all the air currents on Nico, making sure that the wind continued to take his breath away from him.

As Thalia got closer, she realized, with horror, that it was not Nico.

It was Golden Retriever guy, struggling to breathe as a result of Thalia's winds. Thalia released him from the air pocket and watched him slump to the ground, gasping for air.

_He's still alive. _

Thalia stopped herself from thanking the gods, and turned around to see Nico on the ground. There was a pit about ten feet away from him. Thalia didn't have time to think too much about it, because Nico began to stir and climb up.

Thalia put her hand out, intending to use the air around her again. However, she decided to take another approach after she almost killed Golden Retriever guy.

Thalia jogged up to Nico. He was stumbling, but kept his grip on his sword. He swung it lazily at her. She sidestepped and hit his shoulder with Aegis. Nico's position opened up, and Thalia used the opening to kick him in the chest.

Nico's powers were fearsome, but Thalia knew she could take him in close quarters combat. She continued to advance, and watched Nico scramble up. She couldn't allow him to get space between her. Nico weakly shot a blast of black energy.

Thalia easily blocked it with Aegis.

To her surprise, though, Nico kept maintained the energy like she maintained the lightning. It only increased in intensity as time went on. Thalia, however, eventually pushed against the blast, steadily advancing towards Nico. Thalia finally got close enough to spin out of Nico's blast range, leap, and throw Aegis as hard as she could into Nico's knees. The shield connected, and Nico's legs gave out. His shadow blasts melted away.

Thalia pointed her spear and shot a blast of static electricity through her spear. Nico manifested a shadow shield made of soft darkness to block it.

Thalia gripped her spear and charged him while he was on the defensive.

Nico rolled backwards and popped up, barely getting his shield up in time to protect himself from Thalia's spear thrust. Thalia tried for an overhead strike, like she was chopping wood. Nico seemed to think about parrying, but decided at the last second to not try to match Thalia's strength. Rather, he sidestepped, pushed Thalia with his shadow shield. He tried to swipe at her legs with his sword.

Thalia raised her foot to dodge Nico's swipe, shifted her weight on her back foot, and kicked Nico in the chin. Nico's head snapped back, but he maintained his footing. His shadow shield dissolved.

Both Nico and Thalia were now shield-less. Nico shifted his sword into his left hand, and tried to run Thalia through. Thalia twisted her body and grabbed his wrist.

Something pierced her open side, and Thalia winced.

Thalia looked down to see Nico holding a shadow sword that was cutting into her skin. The sword was shimmering black with a white outline around it. He had manifested the sword at the last second.

Thalia felt the familiar feeling of her life force being drained from her body.

Nico seemed to be shocked that his strategy worked. Thalia herself was impressed. Nico had more than a few tricks up her sleeve. Thalia used Nico's shock to grab his face and give him a nice, clean headbutt.

Nico stumbled back, and the shadow sword disappeared.

Thalia knocked him down with a roundhouse punch. "Stay down, kid."

She heard Nico muttering Ancient Greek while headfirst in the ground. He was probably too tired to do anything else. He must've spent most of his battery even maintaining the shadow-scape thing he had created. Thalia walked away, only to hear Nico's chanting increase in volume. She hit her side and felt blood running from the wound in her side down her leg.

Thalia scooped up Aegis. A few drops of blood landed on the shield. She needed to stop Nico before he pulled any more Nightmare Before Christmas-type tricks. Thalia walked back towards Nico and raised Aegis. This strike needed to be exact, hard enough that would put Nico out for a few hours, but light enough to not kill him.

Thalia stood over Nico, who was chanting even faster. She thought she saw a silvery aura around Central Park, which meant she needed to act fast.

Thalia prepared to step forward and thrust downward.

"Thalia?"

Annabeth's voice cut through the air.

Thalia immediately froze.

Nico looked past Thalia, panting hard. He nodded at something behind her. "Hey."

Thalia couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Something in her didn't want to turn around.

"Thalia. Look at me," Annabeth's voice said once again.

_Was this real? _

Thalia turned slowly. She couldn't stop her body from shaking.

She finally turned to see Annabeth.

Except- it wasn't Annabeth. It was her ghost; a faint, ethereal version of her. She didn't have the clothes she had on at the time of her death; rather, she had a Camp Half-Blood shirt on. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she wore her Camp Half-Blood necklace.

Thalia sank to her knees. The floodgates opened; the tears flowed mercilessly. Annabeth gave Thalia a sad smile. "Hi."

Thalia sniffed. "Hi."

Annabeth's form flickered. "Thalia, please-"

Thalia heard quick footsteps receding from the area. Thalia turned to see Nico sprinting towards the Doors while blowing a few notes into a tiny woodwind instrument. The boulders shook and grinded to the side to reveal a gap. The Doors were opened, and Nico was preparing to jump in.

"NO!" Thalia felt a current of anger flow from her heart and down her arms. Thalia put her arm out, and shot a multi-pronged bolt of lightning directly from her fingertips.

The lightning just barely hit Nico in the back as he fell into the Doors. The Doors began to shake, and collapsed into itself as the boulders fell into the Door. Earth formed over the Door, as if there were never boulders there.

Thalia cursed and turned. "Annabeth-"

But she was gone. Thalia once again felt her voice disappear. She waved her hand through where Annabeth was, praying that she would come back.

_Please come back. _

_Please._

_Don't leave me alone. _

Thalia stayed there for a while, hoping Annabeth would reappear.

Annabeth didn't come back.

Thalia saw a theater sign flickering in the distance. She wanted to tear it down, to tear something down. She didn't even want to think about her first time shooting lightning from her fingers.

She felt something wet in her socks. Thalia looked down to see a small pool of blood by her right foot. Thalia raised her foot, and felt lightheaded. Nico's strike took a little more out of her than she thought.

"That's not good," Thalia pointed out. She ripped part of her shirt, folded it, and put pressure on the wound on her side. She used her belt to wrap it around her side to keep the compress on the wound.

Thalia sunk to the ground.

A kid ran up to Thalia, threw a few dollars on her, and then ran away.

"Thanks," Thalia muttered under her breath. She supposed she was, in fact, homeless.

As she looked at the sky, Thalia let herself slip into her memories.

* * *

_Thalia was running faster than she ever thought she could. She looked over to see Luke barely keeping up with her, pulling Annabeth through the tall blades of grass. Grover was slightly ahead of them, and pointed to a hill. "Come on! Just a little bit further." _

_Thalia couldn't keep her eyes off of Grover's hooves. _

_They were hooves._

_She hoped this place was really as magical as Grover said. On the off chance it actually existed, it may be nice to finally have a place that would be safe. _

_It seemed too good to be true, though. And if there was one thing Thalia learned about this world, it was that if something was too good to be true, it usually was. _

_Thalia heard the Furies screaming at her, "Get back here, children! We won't hurt you. We'll tear you apart as softly as possible!" _

_If this was just her and Luke, she may have been scared. But, now, had to take care of someone. She had to be strong for Annabeth. She needed Annabeth to know that everything would be okay. She had been fighting for so long. _

_Thalia didn't have the time or energy to be scared. She needed to keep faith. She needed to get to this magical camp._

_Thalia, Grover, Luke, and Annabeth flew towards the base of the hill. _

_The wind began to blow hard; a warm gust from one side of Thalia, and a cold gust from the other. Luke looked to his left and pointed with his free hand. "Tornado!" _

_Grover yelped. "Hades isn't happy! We need to go now!" _

_Luke yelled, "How is a camp going to save us from a tornado?!" _

"_ENOUGH," Thalia yelled. She began to feel herself slowing down. "Keep running. I have an idea." _

_Luke looked at her. "I don't like your ideas!" _

_Thalia could hear Annabeth crying. Thalia looked at Luke. "Get her to camp!" _

"_Not without you," Luke screamed. _

"_GO. Goat boy, get them out of here!" _

_She watched Grover slow down and grab Luke's hand. Luke tried to shove him off, but Grover kept trying. _

_Thalia made eye contact with Luke. "Trust me," she projected. _

_Luke hesitated, then nodded. Luke, Grover, and Annabeth took off up the hill. _

_Thalia cut right like she was running a football route. She then stopped and faced the army of hellhounds and harpies heading towards her. She closed her eyes and outstretched her arms like she was asking for a hug. "Come on, Zeus. If you care about me at all, you'll help me with this." _

_Thalia concentrated. As she tapped into the air, she felt nothing but chaos. The winds were whisking around with no direction, like an explosion of air. _

_She refused to let her family die. She refused to let Luke down. She refused to let them win. _

_Thalia felt part of herself infuse into the winds, and felt herself take control. Like she was moving a joystick, Thalia moved the tornado vortex towards herself. She was lifted off the ground, but was too focused to panic. Thalia continued to combine her determination with her concentration, and held the tornado around her. For a few seconds, Thalia was floating in the middle of the tornado. _

_She looked at the Furies, who continued to fly towards her fearlessly. Thalia moved herself and the tornado over to the army, and watched as the tornado picked the monsters up. Thalia used her spear to blast every monster she could see with static electricity. Each blast that connected made the monster explode into dust. She kept blasting until she couldn't see anyone swirling around the tornado anymore. _

_Thalia tried to dissipate the tornado, but she couldn't. She felt herself losing control, and the tornado continued to blow. _

_Thalia couldn't let the tornado beat her. _

_Thalia couldn't let the tornado affect Luke and Annabeth's escape. _

_Thalia yelled, "STOP!" Her heart pounded and the tornado winds stopped spinning. The winds dispersed. _

_Thalia floated to the ground, at the bottom of the hill._

_Around her was golden dust, shimmering on the ground. _

_Thalia felt like she had just ran twenty miles. Thalia turned and staggered up the hill. She didn't know how she had done that, but she knew she would have to sleep for days after all this was over. _

_A piercing pain lashed on her back. Thalia screamed and fell. _

_Thalia tried to get up, only to be lashed again. The lash was fiery, cut through her clothes, and burned into her skin. She looked up to see a Fury holding a flaming whip. It was much more terrifying up close. The Fury looked like an old wrinkly woman with leathery bat-like wings, sharp claws, and glowing eyes._

_Thalia coughed out, "Oh…you're still here." _

_The Fury scoffed. "That was quite the display, girlie. But I'm a little bit stronger than the rest of them." _

_The Fury smiled at Thalia, revealing a set of disgusting yellow fangs. "Now, honey. It's time for you to die." _

_Thalia looked past the Fury, made a face of shock, and gave a deluxe, "Oh no."_

_The Fury fell for it and turned behind her. _

_Thalia used the opportunity to scramble up and run away. _

_The Fury screamed in frustration. Thalia heard the flap of her bat wings, and knew that the Fury was flying after her. Unfortunately, Thalia was so tired that she couldn't move too fast. Thalia felt a whip encircle her throat. Thalia grabbed at the throat, and cried out when the whip began to ignite in flames. Thalia had never felt such searing pain. _

_She fell to her knees, and the Fury pulled Thalia closer to her. "If I can't get your friends, I'll get you. Hades just wants you, you know. He wants you because of what your father di to him. Know this, child. Know my name. Know that you have died…at the hands of Alecto!" _

_Thalia yelled. There was no way she would let this hag kill her without a fight. Thalia reached for the body of the whip, her arms shaking as she did. She inched closer until she took hold of the whip, wincing as the heat burned her. Thalia then charged the whip with static electricity. Alecto, in turn, increased the heat being channeled through the whip. _

_Alecto was electrocuted. _

_Thalia was burned. _

_It was a standoff, between two stubborn souls. It was a standoff to see who would give in first. _

_Thalia gave a scream and generated enough electricity to even hurt herself. Alecto began to glow with blue/purple-ish energy, and eventually exploded in a shower of golden dust and static. _

_Thalia collapsed. Her neck was singed, and she could almost feel her wounds from Alecto's lashes being infected. She looked behind her. _

_Maybe she could get there. _

_Thalia began to pull herself up the hill. It started to rain, and the grass turned into mud and mush. Thalia refused to let that stop her. _

_Maybe she could get there. _

_She kept pulling herself. She pulled herself until she got to the top of the hill. _

_Maybe she could get there. _

_Her injuries burned. She didn't see Luke, Grover, or Annabeth. _

_Thalia gave a painful smile. That meant they were safe. _

_Maybe the camp was magical. _

_Thalia couldn't move anymore, and turned on her back. Her face was to the clouds and the rain. _

_Thalia closed her eyes. She prayed to whoever was up there. She prayed that Luke and Annabeth would find peace. _

"_Please…let them find a home. Let them find peace." _

_Thalia closed her eyes and prepared to succumb to her injuries, on the top of the hill. _

Thalia woke with a start.

Based on the position of the sun, it was nearly sunset. The piece of her shirt was now dry and crunchy with her blood. Thalia unbuckled the belt holding the compress to her. She limped towards the theater sign and called a taxi. A taxi arrived suspiciously quickly, probably because part of her shirt was missing. Thalia climbed into the back of the van.

The driver and Thalia sat in silence as he finished his text. After a minute or so, he turned back to her and looked her up and down. "Where to, ma'am?"

Thalia sized him up. He looked like one of the EMCOR company guys she had seen earlier. "You got alcohol?"

The driver raised an eyebrow. "Alcohol? What do you mean?"

"Cut the shit and just give it to me." Thalia palmed Annabeth's dagger, preparing to turn it into a gun. However, she was surprised to see him reach by his feet and pull out a bottle of vodka.

Thalia took the bottle, lifted up part of her shirt, and used it to "disinfect" the wound.

The driver sniffed. "Oh…kay. Where are we headed?"

Thalia looked up at the buildings in New York, and gave the driver the money the kid threw on her earlier today. The driver took the money and looked at her in surprise.

"Uh, honey…this is $100. This is enough to get you anywhere in the city."

Thalia frowned. Why would the kid give her so much money? She doubted it was taken out of his lemonade stand profits.

Annabeth's voice invaded Thalia's mind. "_Thalia, please." _

Annabeth's voice was accompanied by a flash of her smile.

There was one other person that loved her smile.

Maybe Thalia wasn't alone. She knew she had at least one ally in New York.

"Keep it. Take me to Queensboro Bridge."


	6. Thunder

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Percy

_Percy was flying through the sky. Except- it wasn't his body. Rather, he was a disembodied flying presence, surrounded by gray clouds a few shades away from black. The clouds extended hundreds of miles each direction. It looked like the birth place of all thunderstorm clouds, a place where clouds returned to regroup before continuing to embark on their reign of stormy terror. _

_Percy was following a small brown owl like a movie camera. It had gray streaks peppered in its sea of feathers. The owl flew through the sky fearlessly and steadily, as if it had a purpose. It streaked through the sky like a missile. Streaks of lightning tried to stop the owl, but the owl dodged each strike. _

_Before Percy could start to cheer, he saw a cloud in the distance move to the side. It revealed a swirling black hole that looked to be made of a multitude of insects. The insects were all twitching and convulsing, making the entire ring look like it was shaking and shifting. _

_The center was a nebulous vortex of swirling purplish-black energy. Percy could've sworn that there was whispering, chittering, and hissing emanating from the hole. Percy tried to yell to the owl, but he had no voice. He could only watch as the owl flew closer and closer to the black hole. Percy trained his eyes on the front of the owl, and saw that there was a faint line of energy that was pulling the owl into the hole. It was almost like the hole was pulling the owl to its doom. Percy tried to yell again, in distress as he watched the owl get consumed by the vortex. _

Percy woke and sat up with an, "ANNABETH!"

He heard the patter of the rain outside louder than usual. His heart slammed against his chest. A poster of Green Day smiled at him from his door. Percy let a groan escape him. His shirt clung to him, damp with sweat and tears.

He reached to his neck and grasped Annabeth's necklace.

He was able to get in only one breath before his senses alerted him to danger. Percy swiped the Minotaur horn off the wall and pointed it towards the other side of his room. The horn was pointed straight at two bright blue eyes, crackling in the darkness. They were next to his window, which had somehow been opened while he was asleep. A flash of lightning illuminated the room for a second, and he saw that the form that held those bright eyes.

The lightning flash was gone as soon as it arrived, and it took Percy a beat to recognize the form. It looked like Thalia, but he didn't drop the Minotaur horn. Percy slowly reached over towards his nightstand. He wasn't a hundred percent sure that it was her- if this was a monster of some sort, he knew that Riptide was no longer an option. He would need to use the Minotaur horn, and he would probably have to tackle them out the window to get it away from the family.

He hoped that wasn't the case, as tackling a monster out a window and into some trees was not his idea of a good time.

If it really was Thalia, though, he knew she was likely there for business. Thalia wasn't the type to just drop by for a visit anymore. If she was here, then that meant she was on a mission.

That may have been a bit scarier than the monster theory.

He switched on the light. It was, in fact, Thalia. She was dripping in rainwater, dressed in a faded black punk rock shirt and jeans that were too small for her. The shirt was ripped, though- as if she got hungry and took a bite out of it. She looked even older than when he saw her at Montauk, like she had aged a few years. She was slightly taller, her short hair was now shaggy, and her features were a little sharper. She looked tired, which he could relate to. He hadn't been able to sleep peacefully since the incident.

He noticed that Thalia was a little hunched over. She was gripping her side, like she was in pain. He could see that it was likely throbbing, because the vein in her head was pulsing rhythmically.

Percy's breath caught. "Thalia? What-"

She put her hand up and slowly cut off the light. She closed the window silently.

Percy set the Minotaur horn on the floor. "Hey. What happened?"

"Gotta be careful- they could be anywhere," Thalia whispered.

"Who?"

She ignored him and peeked out the window as if there was someone, or _something, _right behind her. Percy wasn't sure if she was talking about a group of monsters, some animals, or even the Hunters. He prayed that silver arrows didn't slice straight through his walls and windows; he knew his mother would have a hard time getting insurance to cover that.

Thalia grunted and made her way to the beanbag chair in his room. Percy silently apologized to Estelle. His sister made it very clear to the family that even though it was in Percy's room, the beanbag was _her _chair. Whenever Percy forgot it, Estelle would make a tiny fist and knock on his head, saying "Silly Per-see, Silly Per-see."

Thalia collapsed into the chair. Percy watched as she slowly sank into it. For some reason, a wet beanbag chair seemed to be against nature.

She rubbed her eyes. "I got in a bit of a disagreement."

Percy reached under the bed and grabbed his first-aid kit. He had gotten into enough disagreements as a demigod that he knew which ones needed medical attention. "Seems like an aggressive disagreement."

Thalia sighed as Percy sat by her. "You should see the other guy."

Percy shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know if I even want to see the guy that the drop on you."

He was half-joking. Even though he was still waking up, he knew Thalia was not someone to play with. She was perhaps more dangerous than Percy or Jason, but yet here she was- injured like she had been through the ringer. He wondered who did this to her.

"Ha, ha," Thalia whispered, following it up with a cough. She cleared her throat and opened her eyes, letting them fall to Annabeth's necklace. Percy watched her eyes soften.

"How have you been?" Thalia asked without breaking eye contact from the necklace.

Percy took out some alcohol wipes. "I've been better, as you probably know."

In reality, he had been struggling. The world had lost its color when Annabeth died, and Percy was having a hard time experiencing any positive emotions. Sadness, rage, and grief came easily, but comfort, humor, and contentment was just out of reach. He still felt numb, but he felt like he was the closest to any positive emotions when he was surrounded by family.

He had agreed to start seeing a therapist, at his mother's request. Appointments started next week, and he hoped it wouldn't be too bad. Maybe afterwards, he could taste food again.

Percy tried to reach for Thalia's wound, but he couldn't see where it was. "Uh...should…"

Thalia grimaced and took off her shirt.

Percy reflexively looked away. He gulped. He guessed that meant her injury was probably under her shirt, but this was a _lot _closer to Thalia than he had ever been. He suddenly became hyper-aware of the sound of the rain, the humming of the air conditioning, and the _squelch _of Thalia's wet clothes.

"What are you…Percy, stop being dumb and patch me up."

Percy turned back towards her slowly to see a shirtless Thalia. Percy thanked the gods she at least had a dark sports bra on.

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, you're a big boy. I think I just need a few stitches. And maybe some dry clothes."

Thalia's body was covered in cuts and brusies, like she had gotten jumped by ten angry rock golems. Percy tried not to wince as he surveyed her followed Thalia's hand to the stab wound in her side.

He got a little closer. It wasn't too deep, but it was just deep enough to slow anyone down.

Percy picked up a pair of gray sweatpants and tossed them to her. She smelled them for a second, and then began to take off her pants. Before she slid the wet jeans off, she looked at Percy. "Dude."

Percy blinked and looked away. "Sorry, you just…okay."

After a few beats, he heard Thalia say, "All right, let's go."

He turned back towards her. The sweatpants hung off her, and with her sports bra, she looked like an Amazon who grew up in the Bronx and happened to get a sponsorship by Underarmour. Percy had to stop himself from making a joke.

She looked down at the pants and up at him. "What?"

"Nothing," he lied. Percy put on gloves and sat next to her. He wiped the wound using the alcohol wipes. Annabeth had done this for him only a few times before, but he had never tried it himself. He hoped he didn't mess up, or else he would get shocked right back to sleep.

"You may need something to numb the pain. I don't have any spare ambrosia or elixir lying around, unfortunately."

Percy remembered that the Apollo cabin would use a special elixir when dealing with serious injuries; a mixture of ambrosia, opium poppy, and a dash of moonwater. The elixir was so effective that it usually had demigods humming throughout most of the medical procedure.

Thalia pointed towards a bottle standing next to her spear by the window. Percy grabbed the bottle of what looked like Absolut vodka. He handed it to Thalia, and she held it up in acknowledgment. "Yeah. Got it covered."

She took a swig of it and swallowed it without flinching, cringing, or grimacing. Percy felt sad as he watched her; he knew she must be hurting, and not simply because of the wound. Though not many people mentioned it, he knew Thalia had one of the roughest lives out of anyone he knew. She had lost a lot of people close to her. He admired her, though; she somehow continued to find the will to fight for the people that needed someone to fight for them. That, to Percy, was true strength.

Percy tried to remember what Annabeth said the last time she walked him through the process. He used the needle driver to secure the needle and used his tissue forceps to steady the wound. Some of the skin around the wound looked decayed, like it had aged a hundred years faster than the rest of the skin. As he tried to steady the wound, the dead skin fell off, leaving a wound that was a bit larger than he expected. He used the driver to thread the needle through the skin, and felt Thalia's body tense up as he began to pull the skin back together. Her fingers scratched at the beanbag chair.

"Sorry," Percy mumbled.

"S'okay. Keep going," she whispered.

Her eyes were trained outside, right on the moon behind the storm clouds. "I'm sorry to burst in like this. I...didn't want to burden you with all this."

"Stop it. You're not a burden. It's good to see you, Thals," Percy offered as he threaded the first stitch. He knew it wouldn't quite get rid of the pain she must have been feeling, but he wanted her to know that she was not an obligation or a chore. She was his friend, one of his best ones at that. Juniper and Grover were there when he needed it, and he wanted to pay it forward with Thalia.

She nodded and gave a soft _mmm. _"Had to wait until your family was asleep," she muttered. "I didn't want to wake your mother or anything."

"That's why you waited until the middle of the night?" Percy made sure to thread the needle right above the fat in her wound rather than below it- Annabeth always said that going below the fat would make it a very unpleasant experience.

"Yeah…" Thalia trailed off. She sounded so distraught that Percy wanted to comfort her. He wasn't sure how he could comfort her, though, without hugging her like his mother hugged him. The two of them hadn't hugged in years, though, since Thalia joined the Hunters. He figured he would keep his distance; he wanted to make her comfortable, not put her in a weird spot.

"Thalia. You know my mother would take you in. You could stay here for however long you need to get back on your feet. I mean, you may just need to babysit Estelle occasionally."

Thalia gave a slight shake of the head. "I know she would take me in. That's why I couldn't let her see me. I can't put you all in danger like that. Two demigods in one place…you know that our smell would make us a magnet to the monsters in the area. Plus, the gods are not happy with me."

Percy felt where she was coming from. His "scent" was one of the first things he asked his mother when she picked him up from Camp Half-Blood; he wouldn't let her get back with a Smelly Gabe-type. Paul was good to her. She, however, told him that she had it covered. Apparently, the gods agreed with Sally that the least they could do for Percy, at least for the time being, was to leave him alone and work together to mask Percy's scent for a while after the incident.

Percy doubted that the gods would extend such grace to Thalia.

He was about halfway done with the stitches. "I never asked you how you were doing. How's everything?"

Thalia kept her eyes outside. "I…have not been handling it well, to put it simply."

Percy would have dropped it right then and there, but he saw something in her eyes. It was the same look she had when she was coming up with a plan.

"Thalia…what're you planning?"

Thalia shifted like an animal not used to being in a cage. "How do you know I'm planning anything?"

"You're more like me than you want to admit," Percy put bluntly.

Thalia looked towards him- her gaze was steady and calculating. "Yeah?"

Percy looked up at her for a moment and nodded. "Apparently, we were so alike that we would've either been best friends, or we would've murdered each other. That's what Annabeth told me some years ago."

Thalia's mouth twitched. "And what's your verdict?"

Percy finished the last stitch. "Jury's still out," he said.

Thalia's smile came through, shining like her eyes. It made Percy actually want to smile, but the desire dissolved when her smile wavered and slid away like quicksilver. "Yeah, Annabeth could sometimes see things we couldn't."

Percy couldn't disagree with that. Annabeth always had a strategy for something. Maybe her death was all some sort of elaborate plan. Maybe it was a hoax meant to escape from some enemy.

Deep down, Percy knew it wasn't true, though. She was gone.

Thalia cleared her throat as Percy cleaned the stitches. "How's family?"

Percy felt like they were at McHale's after a fight. Fight first, ask awkward questions later until it devolves into telling ridiculous stories about who had the most dangerous life. "Uh, family is all right. Mom is doing all right; she likes to use baby talk with Estelle, which always makes me feel weird. Paul is great, as usual. He's encouraging my mom to write her book."

"She's writing a book?"

"I hope so. She's been wanting to do it for a while."

Thalia nodded in approval. "She's cool. I hope she writes it."

Percy hopped up and handed Thalia a clean shirt. "She cries sometimes. You know, because of what happened. I cry when she cries, and sometimes when she's not crying. But we're taking it one step at a time, I guess. That's what Paul told us to do. How's your-"

He almost asked her how her family was, but the words got stuck in his throat. He remembered that she didn't really have too much family left, and he began to feel sorry for her.

Thalia nodded as if she knew exactly what he was going to say.

Percy pivoted. "What's been going on with the Hunt? Poseidon mentioned you were no longer Artemis' lieutenant?"

Thalia took the shirt- a long sleeve, dark gray shirt with the picture of an aquarium on it. The bottom of the shirt said: _New York Aquarium: Saving Wildilfe and Wild Places. _She slid it on, and Percy blinked. She looked like a different person with his clothes on. She almost looked…like a normal girl.

"Didn't know the gods were into gossip," she grumbled as she fluffed the shirt.

"I mean, it's probably a big deal. You were probably Artemis' best lieutenant."

"Whatever."

"I'm serious."

Thalia nodded. Her gaze turned back to the moonlight breaking through the clouds. "It just wasn't for me, I guess."

She nudged him. "And thanks."

Percy saw a familiar New York Yankees hat on the ground. He hadn't noticed it until the moonlight hit in just the right angle. "Is that-"

Percy scooped up the hat. As he held it, he was taken back to Annabeth kissing him in the labyrinth. Right after the kiss, she had used it to disappear from view. He remembered forgetting his name, why he was there, and where he was from as he tried to process a kiss from Annabeth Chase. The pleasant memory began to become obscured, though, by a thick fog of grief.

He looked at Thalia. There it was again- that steely look in her eye like she was up to no good.

He pointed. "Right there. That look. This hat. It seems like you're about to go on a mission."

"What are you talking-"

"Don't try it. I've seen that look enough times in Capture the Flag. What's going on?"

Thalia looked at him. "Don't tell me you don't think about bringing her back."

Percy looked away and set the hat on the bed. He began to pack the materials in the first aid kit. The truth is, he _had _thought about it_. _He remembered seriously considering it a little bit ago, but being advised against it by Juniper and Poseidon. He knew that it wasn't the best idea; violating the laws of nature was something that happened on an as-needed basis. Generally used to save the world and all that jazz. Generally, though, when someone messed with death, it tended to mess back.

Thalia stood, but began to stumble. Percy quickly dropped the kit materials and used the small of her back to catch and steady her. "Hey. Be careful."

Thalia shrugged him off. "Yeah, yeah. Percy, you, Nico, and I found Hades' sword. With one swipe of that sword, we could bring Annabeth back. We could make things right."

Percy sat down on the bed. He suddenly felt tired. "Thalia, something like that would be…even if we did so, the gods would find a way to undo what you did."

"That's the gods talking. Not you. I don't want to hear all these excuses as to why we can't. We've done the impossible before."

It was hard to disagree with that. He couldn't count the number of times that people told him that his odds of surviving were slim. And yet, here he was.

"Poseidon told me you attacked Athena."

Thalia shrugged. "Yeah, and? You fought Ares. You threatened Hades."

"Thalia, think about what you're-"

Thalia stepped so close to him that he felt like the space between them was rippling with ozone. "Percy…_forget_ the gods. They've never cared about us."

Percy had a feeling she wanted to use another word besides _forget. _

"Thalia-"

"What? You think Poseidon cares about you?"

"Woah-"

"When he left you and Ms. Jackson in a dingy New York apartment?"

"Hey-"

"When he let her stay in that abusive relationship while he went back to his kingdom and his palace and his immortal wife?"

"Watch it-"

"They're all powerful, and yet they stand by and watch us suffer. They even do things consciously that they know will hurt us. There's a part of them that likes to see us struggle, Percy. They're sick. They break their dumb rules all the time. You yourself are living proof of that! We can disrupt-"

"_Thalia!_" Percy hissed.

Thalia stopped.

"You think I haven't thought about all of this? You think I haven't considered forcing my way into the Underworld and making Hades release Annabeth's soul? I have. I do, every single minute of every damn hour. I'm _barely_ holding it together," Percy whisper-yelled. He felt embarrassed about the tears tracing down his face.

"But I won't do it. I won't, not for the gods, Thalia. But for Annabeth. The way I can truly honor her is not by ripping her from death, but by honoring her death."

"Her _murder_."

Percy took a breath. "Yeah…yeah."

Thalia stepped away from Percy. "Percy, do you remember when Annabeth got taken? When she tackled that manticore off the ledge and we didn't know what happened?"

Percy didn't say anything. He wiped his eyes. He didn't know where she was going with this.

"I thought, for a quick second, that Annabeth was gone. Do you remember what you told me?"

Percy thought back to that time. They were so young. "I don't remember."

"You told me, 'We'll get Annabeth back.' You told me you just didn't know how yet."

"Thalia-"

"And when you saw how sad I was about losing both Luke and Annabeth, you told me to not think like that," Thalia said, warming up. "You convinced me that we would find a way to get her back. You made me have hope."

Percy nodded. He remembered her looking just as sad as she did at this moment, thinking about the worst case scenario. Now, the worst case scenario has happened, and the two of them are back together for it. "Sure, I remember. Annabeth was in trouble. We went to go save her."

"Percy, Annabeth tumbled into Tartarus. You didn't just let her fall. You reached for her. And you went through hell with her."

"Thalia, Annabeth was _alive _during those situations. I wasn't going to let her die. Now, she's dead."

Thalia blinked like he was hitting her with the words.

"Thalia, she's _dead. _Gone. You need to start accepting that."

Thalia took a step back. "No-"

"Thalia. Have you thought about whether Annabeth would want to be brought back?"

Thalia took another step back. "I-"

"Would she be happy to be back here?" Percy thought of the souls Nico summoned back from the dead, remnants of the deceased with lifeless eyes.

Thalia's eyes turned defiant. "Why wouldn't she?"

"Or are you bringing her back for you?"

Thalia looked like she was going to shock him through the window. The rain increased in intensity.

They held eye contact for few seconds. Percy remembered Chiron saying that Thalia would not have been his first choice to save Annabeth because she was too impulsive and often did things without proper consideration. Percy hoped that Thalia hadn't already done something she couldn't take back.

Percy sighed and handed her Annabeth's hat. He needed to switch up strategies. "Thalia, I don't mean to get you upset. I just want you to think this through. Say that everything works exactly how you plan. What happens then?"

Thalia maintained her glowering expression.

Percy continued. "She's back. She's alive, you get to hug her. And she smiles at you. She smiles," Percy felt himself choking up again. "She smiles, and it's the best…view in the entire world. But the gods find a way to wipe her from this plane _again, _because she doesn't belong here anymore?"

"I'll…I'll bring her back."

"And then what if the gods do it again?"

"I'll bring her back again."

"And again? And again? Until they just kill you, Thalia, and punish Annabeth's soul? Is that what you want?"

Thalia's fists balled. "Go ahead, keep talking."

Percy put his hands up in concession.

She wrung out her hair. "Percy, it _seems _like your point is that Annabeth would want to be left dead. But what did she do when Hera took you?"

Percy was silent. He knew that Annabeth didn't rest until she found him.

"You know what she did," Thalia continued. "Even when she thought you were dead. She kept searching for you. That's what we owe her. If she were here, she'd be on my side."

Percy blinked. That phrase sounded familiar. "Luke said that same exact thing about you."

"Luke was a hero," Thalia spat.

"I never said he wasn't," Percy countered.

He and Thalia stood in silence. She looked genuinely upset with him. Her expression made Percy consider grabbing the Minotaur horn.

Instead, she looked down and tugged at the sleeves on his shirt. "I guess he was right, huh?"

Percy couldn't believe what he was hearing. He felt like a failure, like he was losing Thalia to a dark path that she couldn't come back from. "Thalia, he betrayed…"

Percy couldn't finish the statement. That was the thing- Thalia didn't seem to care about betraying Olympus. It looked like she wanted to make them hurt for what happened.

Thalia read his mind. "What? He betrayed the gods? Olympus? And that's supposed to discourage me?"

"Well...it was supposed to warn you against going down the wrong path."

"What's the difference between the right and the wrong path here, Percy? Is it what the gods tell you? It's not always so black and white, Percy."

Percy shook his head. "You know, when Luke told Annabeth you'd be on his side, Annabeth disagreed. Strongly. And when it got down to it and Luke tried to get you to kill Bessie, _er, _the Ophiotaurus, you proved him wrong. You told him that you didn't know him anymore. You used to hate this type of thinking."

Thalia looked devastated.

"Stay here," Percy pleaded. "Stay with us, please. We'll get you some clothes. We'd be happy to have you. I'll get Poseidon to hide you from the gods for a bit, and we can get through this together."

Thalia looked like she was about to cry. She opened her mouth to respond when they heard a soft, "_Per-see_?"

Percy and Thalia both looked to the doorway to see Estelle in her Monsters Inc. pajamas, holding her stuffed elephant. Estelle looked like she had been through the ringer. Her pigtails were almost coming apart, and her bottom lip was quivering.

A huge flash of lightning struck outside, followed by a loud clap of thunder. Estelle began crying, and Percy rushed up to her. He picked her up and cradled her, giving her many kisses on her forehead. When he looked back towards the window, Thalia was gone.

His gaze lingered on where Thalia was for a second before he brought himself back to the room.

Percy carried Estelle towards the beanbag chair. "Did you have a bad dream?" Percy felt himself using a little bit of a baby voice. He knew he couldn't ever tease his mother again.

Estelle nodded. Percy sat where Thalia did, holding his little sister and humming a random lullaby he remember his mother used for him. The crying tapered off, replaced by soft snores amidst the rainfall. Percy continued to rub her back as he watched the moon disappear behind the clouds.

"What am I going to do without you?" he whispered to the stars.


	7. Reunion

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Thalia

Thalia cut a brisk walk towards the New York streets, occasionally stumbling or tripping over her own feet. The world seemed a bit dizzy, and Thalia felt like she was lifting out of her body.

She took another drink of vodka. When she pulled the bottle from her mouth, she couldn't stop the stream of curses that spilled out of her mouth.

How dare he use Luke to shame her?

How dare he insult Luke's memory by villainizing him?

How dare he use Annabeth to stop her?

_How could he be so dense?! _

The air was much more humid than it was earlier. Light rainfall floated from the sky- the brunt of the storm seemed to have passed for now. The moon and stars were shrouded by the clouds. Lightning intermittently flashed in the distance, briefly illuminating the skies with brilliant light. The wind blew against Thalia as she trudged along.

She took another drink.

Thalia couldn't believe Percy. Out of all the people that were still around, she thought that Percy would have understood her. After all, he never struck Thalia as the biggest fan of the gods. He fought for what he believed was right, even if it meant being at odds with an Olympian. She loved that about him. Now, he seemed rigid and broken_. _

The old Percy would have went to go save Annabeth.

He would have at least _tried_.

The old Percy was just as impetuous as she usually was. When his mother disappeared, he went on a quest to find her. He even stood his ground when he came face-to-face with Hades. Now, he seemed resigned to leave Annabeth to rot in the Underworld. He seemed to have lost hope, when there was still hope to be had.

She couldn't give up. Not now.

She took another swig of her bottle of vodka.

_Fuck Percy. _

Thalia almost dropped the bottle when a clap of thunder sounded through the sky. The noise sent palpitations fluttering through her heart. Her free hand was halfway to her spear. She never had a problem with lightning, but it was thunder that always kept her up at night.

Thalia remembered her mother telling her and Jason to never fear a storm. According to her, it was their father's way of showing that he loved them.

She shook her head. It was a load of Minotaur shit.

Zeus never loved them. He used her mother for his own little power trip, left her to spiral out of control, and left her and Jason to fend for themselves.

Her mother, on the other hand, treated Zeus like the best drug she could've ever had. She was the highest when she was with him, and the lowest without him. And without him, life wasn't worth living; or so she made it seem. It was like Thalia and Jason were not enough for her to clean up her act.

Thalia cursed again. Her stitches were painful, to say the least. To add insult to injury, the rainfall was picking up. It was drenching her again, even when she was wearing new clothes. Thalia wasn't sure why part of her thought that Percy's clothes might be waterproof.

Another flash of lightning lit up the sidewalk. She knew she probably shouldn't be out at that moment- it was too late, it was still raining, and Percy's place was _right_ there. He even offered to take her in. Percy was one of the only friends she had right now, and she figured she probably shouldn't be alone right now. Homecooked meals, family board games, looking after the baby sister she had heard so much about…it all seemed great. Plus, she felt bad that she left her old, wet clothes at his apartment.

She had no choice, though- the gods were not thrilled with her. She wouldn't be surprised if they had already dispatched Artemis or Hermes to come track her down and deliver a summons to Olympian court. She wouldn't even be surprised if Athena decided to come down and take up Thalia's offer for a 1 v. 1. She could take whatever punishment she received- but she'd be damned if she led any gods (or monsters) to Ms. Jackson's apartment.

Knowing Percy's mom, it would likely be more dangerous for them than for her, but Thalia didn't want to take the risk.

Thalia opened Aegis to block the rain once more. She continued to traverse the New York streets in the middle of the night. Shady figures hung around the streets like shadows, huddled by cornerstores and draped in alleys. With Thalia's loose aquarium shirt, big sweatpants, and combat boots, Thalia figured she looked just as shady as everyone else on the street.

One kid was posted on a step, rocking a hat and a large hoodie. A couple walked up to the child and exchanged a few bills for a small envelope. The couple continued walking without missing a step. As Thalia neared the child, he looked at her shield. His eyes strained like he was trying to see through the Mist itself. "How much for the umbrella?"

"Keep it pushing, kid," Thalia grumbled as she continued down the street.

"How about that walking stick on your back?"

Thalia ignored him. The kid called her a name that Thalia didn't care to acknowledge.

She thrust her hands in Percy's pants pockets to find some crumpled-up paper. It was a ten and a five-dollar bill, as well as a coupon for a free cookie. As she looked around, she saw a place across the street with wood paneling and large windows with red framing. It read _Bloom's Tavern, _and it was nestled in between an _Ann Sacks_ and a _Dawat Indian Cuisine_.

Her stomach growled. She held up her bottle of vodka to see that it was almost gone.

Thalia looked up at Percy's apartment complex, and shrugged. He wouldn't miss fifteen bucks.

Thalia waited for a car to pass, and headed towards the tavern. As she entered, she was met by golden light and a wall of ambient chatter. Sports reruns played on the televisions above the bar. A red sign hung over the top of it, labeling the area, _Designers Way. _Stairs led up to a higher level, where servers were running up and down with food orders. Music from the mid-2000's floated buoyantly through the air.

Thalia squeezed herself in between a plump man and a girl with a sorority sweatshirt. She beckoned for the bartender, but she was too busy to notice.

Thalia frowned. She lay her spear horizontally on the ground and collapsed Aegis back into her bracelet. The sorority girl was in the middle of telling a story about how Chad hadn't called her back. Somehow, she was talking nonstop, seemingly without the need for oxygen.

The man on the other side of Thalia seemed to be jolly as well as plump, as he threw his head back and laughed for eight seconds straight. She was pretty sure that the ability to laugh for that long was a personality trait.

Thalia sighed. It may be a long night.

She hated how she saw the world; every person in the bar was a potential threat. Any one of them could change into a monster, or pull out a gun, or be a spy for an enemy. She was tense, at best.

At worst, she was paranoid.

The bartender drifted towards Thalia, giving intermittent _uh-huh_'s as a guy from across the bar continued his story. The bartender looked towards Thalia and rolled her eyes. "What can I get you, hon?" Her voice was nearly drowned out by the chatter, but her eyes and smile emanated such warmth that Thalia felt drawn to her. Her brown eyes crinkled with happiness. Her dreadlocks fell down her shoulders like coiled rope.

Before Thalia could answer, though, the bartender looked back at the guy and gave a deluxe, "Uh-huh! Wow! Give me one second, and I'll be back to hear _all _about how you knew Kevin James in college."

The bartender looked back at Thalia. "Sorry about that. Go ahead?"

The music changed to some tunes that Thalia vaguely recognized as Irish. Thalia pointed at the menu. "Can I get a vodka and the…golden fried tater tot skillet?"

The bartender, whose name tag read _Tiana, _nodded. "Of course. And, can I just see ID?"

Thalia blinked. She started to feel warm. She never had an ID, or even a learner's permit. She and Luke just never got around to it, for evident reasons. She had tried to tell Apollo that years ago, but somehow she still ended up driving his solar car through the air.

Tiana must have noticed Thalia's panic, because her face contorted into a frown. Thalia was scared; she was probably going to get kicked out of the bar. A drunk homeless-looking girl with no ID? Thalia would've kicked herself out. Coming here was a mistake- Thalia really didn't need more attention drawn to her.

After a tense second, the bartender gave Thalia a soft smile. "You know what? Don't worry about it. I'll get you that drink and those tots right away. That'll be $14.73."

Thalia exhaled and gave Tiana the fifteen. Tiana shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It's on the house. Be right back."

Thalia gave a nod as a silent _thank you. _For a few minutes, she allowed herself to enjoy the music. She watched a New York Yankee strike out on a called strike three.

"Here you are," Tiana said as she gave Thalia the food and drink. "So what brings you out here? You seem new around here?"

The guy across the bar was continuing his story, but Tiana wasn't paying him any mind.

"Yeah, you could say that," Thalia said. "I was just visiting a friend."

Thalia ate a tater tot, and had to fight the urge to say _mmm. _Not only was the food some of the best she's ever had, but she somehow felt like she was near a fireplace. She wasn't sure if it was the bar, the food, or Tiana, but she felt comfortable and loose for the first time in a very long time.

Tiana smiled. "Yeah? Nice! Where's home for you?"

The food's bombastic taste turned momentarily stale. Thalia's mind blanked. The warm air turned uncomfortably hot. Thalia's breaths became labored, and she felt like running away. Tiana's eyes kept her planted in her chair, though.

"I…_ah…_I don't have one."

Tiana nodded like she wasn't surprised. "Well, maybe you could find one. It isn't too late to move to New York! We have good food, crazy people…it's a pretty cool area."

Thalia appreciated Tiana's suggestion, but New York was the hub of the gods. Everything from Olympus to Camp Half-Blood was there, and she probably needed to be as far away from New York as possible. Yet, until she could get a ride out, she was stuck here for the time being.

On the other side of the bar, a group of friends laughed loudly and all took shots. Afterwards, a few of the guys started shoving each other and laughing.

Thalia regarded them. "I don't really think New York is my speed."

Tiana made another drink. "Fair enough. Well, just let me know if you need anything. New York is a big place, but you're never alone here."

She winked at Thalia and continued to whisk through the bar.

Thalia blinked. There was something familiar about Tiana, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Thalia sensed something in the air. Thalia no longer heard the sorority girl's story about Chad. She looked to her right to see a guy uncomfortably close to the sorority girl. He wore a cheap brown jacket, and smelled strongly of weed. He delivered obviously rehearsed bad lines and groped her hungrily. She shied away from him and tried to keep him at arm's distance.

Thalia couldn't hide her derision. _These were the kinds of guys the Hunters swore off. _

Thalia's mind was moving quickly, seizing on the man's dirty shoes, his calm breathing, the sweat on his brow, and his hand moving closer to sorority girl's drink. Thalia also noticed him slip a pill in her drink while gesturing to his friends around the bar. Thalia watched as the pill dissolved quickly and filled the drink.

He looked back at her drink and slid it to her. "I'd like to raise a toast. To beautiful women, good friends, and a night we may not forget…or quite remember, if we're lucky!"

Thalia saw sorority girl sigh and grab her drink with intention. Thalia cursed. She needed to move fast.

Her spear was right by her feet- she could just grab it and take him out.

_No. You can do this without maiming or killing him. _

She grabbed the creepy guy's shoulder. "Hey. You know what I think? I think you're really going to remember this night."

He turned around. "Excuse me?"

"I saw you put something in her drink," Thalia said. She turned her attention to sorority girl. "Don't drink that, by the way. He drugged it."

Sorority girl peered at her drink and frowned. "I don't see anything."

The guy took on a smug face. "Yeah, she doesn't see anything. Maybe that's because I didn't drug her."

He took Thalia's arm and pulled her closer. "But maybe you could join us."

Thalia's breath caught in her throat. She grabbed the jolly man's bottle next to her. "I don't think so."

With one swing, the bottle shattered across his jaw. The guy stumbled back, falling into a few chairs. Gasps preceded a cloud of deafening silence in the bar like lightning preceded thunder. Most people in the bar wore expressions of pure fear. One group of three left the bar immediately.

The jolly man looked especially distraught. "That was my bottle."

A group of five men got up from a nearby table, seemingly concerned about the creepy guy. One of them cried out, "Dustin, get up!"

Thalia sighed. "Well, let's go."

Dustin began to stir.

Thalia saw him rub his chin and slowly climb up. He snarled. "You stupid bit-"

Thalia threw the rest of the bottle like a pencil at Dustin's head. The sheer velocity resulted in the bottle exploding on contact, knocking him out.

Two of Dustin's friends threw their chairs out of the way, and rushed Thalia. She gave a well-placed kick to Guy 1's kneecap, and gave Guy 2 a quick jab to his Adam's apple. Both individuals swiftly met the ground. Thalia took both their heads and slammed them together, putting them both to sleep for the night.

The other three men looked like they would explode with anger. One took out a knife, and Thalia smirked. They definitely thought they were dangerous, but she knew they would pee themselves if they came face to face with a real monster.

She took one step towards them before she sensed a broad wall of force approaching at her from three sides. She could only sense a whiff of sweat and tobacco before the danger presented itself.

Instinctively, Thalia sidestepped one flying security guard and ducked under another's tackle attempt. She could not stop the third one, though- he took out her legs and she fell to the ground. Within 30 seconds, all three guards were dogpiling her.

Thalia felt her anger building. She was in a pile of anger, testosterone, and heat, and she wanted _out. _

Thalia heard Tiana's voice rise above the commotion, "Hey! Hey! Stop it!"

Thalia's veins charged with electricity. She heard Tiana's voice once again, but it was different. It sounded through Thalia's mind this time, suddenly as crisp as if it was just Thalia and Tiana in a room. "Leave her alone."

The guards stopped immediately and climbed off of Thalia. They looked Tiana's way, and hung their heads like children who were caught fighting.

Thalia grabbed her spear.

Tiana folded her arms. "Go easy on her. She was doing a good thing. He's the one you should be paying attention to," Tiana said, as she pointed to Dustin.

"Sorry, Tiana," they said in unison. Thalia was struck; they seemed genuinely saddened by the fact that they disappointed Tiana.

Two guards glided over and picked Dustin up. The remaining guard helped Thalia up. "Come on. Let's go."

Thalia was contemplating taking out the guard holding her until she saw Tiana's face. It was hard to read, but Thalia thought she saw disapproval. Thalia felt just as miserable as the guards seemed. She didn't know Tiana, but she felt like an old friend. And she had just ruined Tiana's bar because she was just trying to do a good thing.

She always had a problem with punching first and asking questions later, and she knew it wasn't always the noble thing to do.

The scary thing was- fighting the guys gave her an adrenaline rush. She _liked _it. She wanted more. She needed to control herself.

Tiana gave Thalia a slight nod, and Thalia allowed the guard to take her out.

Thalia waited until she was outside to wrestle herself out of the security guard's grip. "All right, I'm good. I'm good."

Thalia put her spear on her back, opened Aegis, and prepared to brave the rain once more.

"Wait!"

Thalia turned to see Tiana rushing out with a to-go box and a drink. "You forgot the food and your Sprite that you ordered."

Thalia took it and nodded. She didn't order a Sprite. "Thanks. I don't know if-"

"You'll be fine. Go," Tiana said, lightly pushing Thalia away. Thalia saw wisdom and resolve in Tiana's eyes that made her seem much, _much _older than she looked.

Thalia began to walk back down the street in the rainfall. The air wasn't as humid now- the fall breeze greeted her once more. She opened the container to see freshly baked chicken tenders and her remaining tater tots, topped with cheese, jalapeno, and bacon bits. Thalia closed the container quickly; the rain had taken a lot over the past 24 hours, but she wouldn't let it take her food.

She needed to get inside for the night, or else she'd get a cold. She'd seen several demigods get sick if they were out in cold weather or in inclement weather for too long without appropriate protection. Thalia herself hadn't been sick in years, but she was not anxious to remember what it was like.

As she walked, she saw a tiny store with a blue tent over it. The word _HASTENS _was etched into the tent, in small white lettering_. _It caught Thalia's eye because of the queen-size bed that was in the store. It looked like one of the most comfortable beds she had ever seen. During her time in the Hunters, she got used to sleeping on mats, bedspreads, and even the ground. Thalia tried the door just in case, but it was locked.

"I'm so sorry," Thalia said to no one in particular. She put her finger through the lock and funneled static electricity through it. The store's lock fried from the inside, and Thalia slipped in. It had been one of Luke's favorite moves. Luke always got through locks with finesse, but Thalia liked to unlock locks by sheer force.

When Thalia looked around, she found herself in a small mattress store, littered with options from memory foam to twin XL.

Thalia took a sip of her Sprite and almost spit it out. Tiana had given her, "Sprite," but it turned out to be the rest of the vodka that Thalia had ordered.

After about twenty minutes, her food and her drink was gone, and Thalia was swooning on the floor. Thalia felt her side become warm, and she checked her stitches. Unfortunately, they were starting to fall off.

Fortunately, though, her wound seemed to be nearly completely healed.

"How does that happen," Thalia muttered. She wondered if there was something in her drink or food. Maybe her food was secretly ambrosia or something. That would explain why the tater tots were so top-notch.

As Thalia's vision got fuzzy, she prepared to slip into sleep.

A voice whisked through Thalia's unconscious mind.

_Oh, Thalia. You came back._

The voice echoed and reverberated through Thalia's consciousness and brought her back to her form.

Thalia opened her eyes to see a tall woman with messy blonde hair. She wore a sparkly black dress that looked like it was beautiful when it was first bought. Now, it hung off her. It looked faded, and the fabric was coming apart. Even the woman's blonde hair seemed washed out, as if the dye in it was finally starting to fade. She wore a few plastic bangles on her wrist, and her eyes hungrily fixated on every detail on Thalia's face. A faint scent of lemon and aerosol greeted Thalia as she finally made the connection.

It was the blue eyes and sharp expression that helped Thalia make the connection.

Thalia was seven again. She barely croaked, "Mother?"

Beryl Grace bent down to look at Thalia. "That's right, dearest."

"Are you real?"

"Yes. I'm here, Thalia."

Thalia sat up, but nearly threw up doing so.

Her mother was here.

Here.

Talking to Thalia.

Thalia scrambled to a nearby trash can and actually threw up.

She was trying to process her mother's presence, but the alcohol was stretching and twisting her mind so much that she was having trouble organizing her thoughts. Strangely enough, she didn't feel afraid or confused by her mother's sudden appearance. She just felt thirsty.

Thalia wiped her mouth. "I saw a family at the park earlier today. They weren't perfect, you know. The father was preoccupied while the mother did the work."

Beryl raised her eyebrow. Her eyes seem fractured, like she was looking at Thalia's heart rather than Thalia's face.

"But they were a family. A normal, cute, weird family. Why couldn't we be like them?"

Beryl pursed her lips. "We could have never been them, Thalia."

"Even Percy has a family," Thalia slurred. She couldn't count the number of times she wished Sally Jackson was her mother, rather than the mother she got. 'Mother' was a loose term.

"And we never had a chance," Beryl continued. "We never had a chance simply because Zeus came into my life one night. And Zeus was unlike any other. I see a lot of him in you, my child."

Thalia's mouth felt dry. "Yeah? The drinking or the bad decisions?"

Beryl shook her head. Her lip looked to be curled up in disgust. "The determination. The look in your eyes when either of you decide you want to do something. You would not let anything or anyone stop you."

Beryl reached down and stroked Thalia's hair. Thalia wasn't sure how her mother could touch her if she wasn't real. "You should have seen how you looked at me when Jason disappeared."

"You mean when you gave him away," Thalia growled. Anger was starting to clear the fog from her mind.

"You looked at me like no child should ever look at their mother!"

"And you didn't deserve that?"

"No!" The spirit wailed. "When Jason was lost to us, I needed you more than ever. But you weren't there. And that was the end of my life. Everything you touch dies, my dear."

Thalia shook her head. "No…no, you're wrong. You're wrong. I'm not like you."

Beryl gave a dry laugh. "Child, you are just like me. Look at you now. Drunk in a mattress store in the middle of the night."

Thalia formed a sloppy three-fingered salute with her hand. She knew that this wasn't her mother- it was some shade of her mother, like the shade she had encountered when she, Nico, and Percy had encountered Melinoe.

"You're…you're a _mania._"

Her mother stiffened like Thalia had insulted her. "No thanks to your father. He abandoned me."

Thalia had heard about _mania; _evil spirits of beings who embodied insanity. With one gesture of her three-fingered salute, she could dispel the spirit.

Beryl reached her hand down to Thalia. "He abandoned you."

Thalia's hand began to tremble. She was at a crossroads; she wanted to dispel the spirit.

But the spirit was a fragment of her mother.

Her mother got closer to Thalia.

"Back up," Thalia hissed. She held up her three-fingered salute like a weapon. "I'll do it."

Beryl looked at Thalia's hand. "You wretched…I mean, my _beloved_ daughter," Beryl corrected. "Don't you understand what I am trying to do? Don't you understand why I'm here? I'm the _only _family you have left."

Thalia felt trapped. Her mother was the only family she had left. And she was right in front of her.

Beryl must have sensed Thalia's thoughts. "You need me, right now. You've always needed a mother. I'm ready to be here for you. I'm ready to step up and to be a mother. Someone has got to look after you, right?"

Her mother spoke in such a soft voice that it was almost like a lullaby.

"Right," Thalia softly uttered.

"And you're alone, aren't you?"

Thalia felt her spirit breaking. "…yes."

Her three-fingered salute fell apart. Her eyes fell to the carpeted ground.

"All is not lost, though, my firstborn."

Thalia looked up to see her mother with her hand outstretched. "Take my hand, then, Thalia. We can make things right."

_Make things right. _

"And then you, me, Jason, Luke, and Annabeth can go up to Sonoma. We can have a picnic. We can be a family again. Would you like that?"

_Yes. _

Thalia reached up to take her hand, but paused. Something in her was giving her the pause, holding her back from taking this step.

"Is there something stopping you," her mother asked?

Thalia couldn't make eye contact. "Yes."

"That, my girl, is weakness. We don't have time for weakness. For we are above such things."

"Right…"

"Come on, Thalia. Let's save your family."

Images of Luke, Jason, and Annabeth flashed through her mind. She wondered how Jason and Luke would've gotten along if they would've met each other. Luke probably wouldn't have trusted Jason until he saw the scar on his lip. It grounded him, and made people less intimidated of her brother's presentation.

Perhaps Luke and Jason would have liked each other, as they both meant a lot to Thalia.

Thalia guessed she'd never know.

Her heart tugged at her chest. She wanted to see them again. She missed them so much.

Thalia reached out…and took her mother's hand.

Nothing happened. Thalia wasn't electrocuted or killed. Rather, she was pulled to her feet. She met her mother at eye level for a second before Beryl pulled Thalia into a hug.

"Oh, my brave warrior," Beryl whispered.

Thalia fought the tears threatening to spill.

"I tried, Mom. I tried to save her," Thalia said into her mother's chest.

"I know, dearest."

"I talked to Percy. I don't want to hurt Annabeth-"

"Hush, child," Beryl interrupted.

"But Nico said-"

"I said, hush." Beryl pulled Thalia's head back to look into her eyes. Somehow, her mother's eyes looked more stable and focused in death than they ever had been in life. "You, my dear, are _royalty_. You have a king's blood in you. You, my love, are special. More extraordinary than anybody I've ever seen."

Thalia wasn't sure if it was her mother's words or the alcohol making her feel lightheaded. "Extraordinary?"

"Yes. You're more powerful than you think. You can fix this all."

Thalia didn't see how. This was a lost cause; bringing back Annabeth was a ticking time bomb that Thalia _knew _would explode at some point.

"Do not let the gods command or control you. That's how I ended up here. Do you want to end up like me?"

Thalia tried to imagine herself as a _mania, _a spirit of insanity screaming about how life was unfair and how much more she deserved. Never having rest. Never moving on. Trapped in an endless cycle of resentment and regret.

"I'm not going to end up like you," Thalia declared.

"Then make your _own _rules."

Beryl turned Thalia towards a nearby mirror. In the mirror, Thalia saw herself. But she was _different. _She was cleaner, happier, and looked well-rested. Her reflection was smiling at her.

Beryl whispered in Thalia's ear. "You lost so much. This world has been so cruel to you. It's about time you fight back. It's about time you fight for something. You can bring Annabeth-"

Annabeth popped up in the mirror, wearing the big white shirt, ripped jeans, and jacket she was wearing at the time of her death. She smiled at Thalia and waved at her.

"-Jason-"

Jason stepped into the mirror image- but he wasn't the grown Jason. He was a little kid, about six years old. He was beaming at Thalia, like he had finally figured out how to ingest that stapler. Now, Mirror Thalia, Mirror Annabeth, and Mirror Jason were together, smiling back at her.

"-Zoe-"

Zoe materialized, wearing a _chiton _and sandals. She looked like she had finally found her place in time and history, and she did a slight bow to Thalia.

"-Luke-"

A 14-year-old Luke appeared in the mirror, looking just as he had when Thalia had lost them at Half-Blood Hill.

"-and me back to life."

Her mother stepped into view, in the center of the image. She looked like the matriarch of the family. She wore her hair in its dirty blonde hue. Her blue eyes were not harsh, but they were determined. Her smile was not condescending, but it was welcoming. Together, they looked like they belonged in a reality television series.

"You can get _everything you ever wanted._"

In the mirror, Thalia saw each person begin to beckon at her, as if to say, _Come join us! _

"How?" Thalia's voice was a hoarse whisper.

"Kill…the gods," Beryl mentioned.

A car passed by the room, flooding the room with blue-white light for a moment. Even with the ocean of light, Thalia couldn't tear her eyes away from her family in the mirror. "Kill…the gods?"

"Yes."

"How?" With that one question, Thalia felt like she betrayed the gods.

She had only heard a few stories about godkillers in the story of the Greek gods. Generally, godkillers were also other immortals, like the Greek gods killing Titans to usurp their position. They were able to match their target in power level, or at least strategy. Thalia never thought she'd have enough power or intelligence to even be in that conversation.

The mirror's image shifted. Her family disappeared in wisps of blue energy, and the energy collected to form a silhouetted sphere of water. The sphere of water bounced and folded like a bubble, like it had been blessed with magic. It looked familiar.

"You know what to do," Beryl said.

Thalia looked at it. "Bessie?"

Sure enough, the Ophiotaurus manifested in the pool, and began to swim around. Thalia knew the story about the Ophiotaurus- its entrails contained the power to not only overthrow, but _destroy_ the gods. She couldn't believe that such a…_small _thing held so much power.

"Atlas…Luke…they tried to get me to kill that things years ago? And I…proved them wrong. I showed them…that they were wrong," Thalia said. Each word was hard to say.

"And yet, here we are," Beryl said. "It was Luke's destiny to die a hero. It was Annabeth's destiny to die…by pride. And this, my love, is your destiny; to be the one that changes destinies."

Her voice was stern, like how she'd sound when Thalia didn't have her 3:00 p.m. meal ready for the family by the time her mother woke up. "The Ophiotaurus was reborn a few years ago. The Fates' prophecy was for you. You'd be more powerful than the gods. You could overthrow Olympus and usher in a new world."

"A better world," Thalia murmured. She was transfixed by the Ophiotaurus, splashing happily in its magical pool. Here it was- her way to avenge her family's deaths.

"The gods have no right to rule the world. They only rule this world because they were in a position to overpower the Titans. They weren't elected. No one _chose _the gods as leaders. But you…you were always destined for great things, Thalia."

Thalia didn't know if she could believe that. Is that what her life was for? She could have died on Half-Blood Hill, but she was brought back. Was it really Zeus who saved her on Half-Blood Hill, or…something else?

She remembered Percy's determination to save the Ophiotaurus.

"That's…that's huge. But that won't bring anyone back."

"Oh, sure, it will. Once you kill the gods, take the Sword of Hades for yourself." Her mother spoke like an experienced car salesman.

The mirror image changed to Thalia in blue-black starry armor. Her eyes were glowing white, and she held black double-edged blade of Stygian iron. It was adorned with silver skeletal design, and had a golden key embedded in the base of the blade. The image radiated with so much power that Thalia almost stepped back.

"Nothing is permanent, my little Thalia. Not even death. You can't give up."

Thalia couldn't give up. She _wouldn't _give up.

Her mother continued. "Once you get the power, you make the rules. You write history."

Thalia thought back to Athena and Arachne's feud, and how it was portrayed in the story. As reluctant as Thalia was to admit it, her mother was right. This was the only way. She needed to get rid of the gods first before she could save her family. With one action, she could change the paradigm.

She didn't need Percy or Nico- she just needed to get to the Ophiotaurus. She could tear Arachne apart. She could make this world better. She could save her family. She could protect countless others. She could do it better than the gods. She could do it all by only sacrificing one life.

It was the logical choice.

Thalia knew what she needed to do. And she needed to do it before someone else paid the price.

"Your time to do this is limited, though, Thalia. The gods are after you."

"You're right," Thalia admitted. "I need to move quickly. It'll be tough getting into Olympus, though."

"You must get yourself some protection first, before you ascend. You want to cover your bases."

"I can't go to the Hunters. Can't go to Camp Half-Blood, either- most of them would rat me out the second they saw me."

"You could go to an enemy of the gods," Beryl suggested.

The image of Arachne made Thalia almost throw up. "A lot of them are horrible. Perhaps…"

Thalia looked at her spear. "Reyna's sister Hylla commands a legion of Amazons. A lot of those Amazons work with gods, but a lot of them are ex-Hunters too."

"We are a long way from Seattle," Beryl pointed out.

Thalia nodded. "Yeah…but they're making a new base in Virginia in addition to their Seattle base. It's under construction though. Reyna told me Hylla was making plans to expand."

Thalia frowned. She went from New York to Virginia, and from Virginia to New York, only to go back to Virginia. She didn't know when she could get a ride tonight, much less a chance to sleep.

Like Beryl read her mind, she said, "Don't worry, my daughter. I already have it covered."

Thalia got closer to the door to see that the car with the bright headlights had not moved from its position. Rather, it had its hazard lights on. Thalia recognized the car. The window rolled down, and Thalia saw her favorite muscular, Hawaiian, Gym Geek driver. He looked shellshocked, like he had just seen a ghost.

Thalia supposed that, perhaps, he had.

Her mother gestured to the car. "Go save the world. You can sleep on the way there. He won't give you any trouble."

Thalia smiled. "Thank you, Mother."

But her mother was already gone. Thalia was by herself in the mattress store.

But she wasn't alone.

Thalia put on Annabeth's hat, and got into the car. "Arlington, Virginia."


	8. Remembrance

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Percy

Mountains unfolded across the landscape as they drove.

Percy fought a yawn. Keeping his eyelids awake was like holding up the sky again. The sounds of Estelle babbling to the song, "Baby Shark," had kept Percy awake the entire drive from New York to San Francisco. Percy didn't realize he could hate a song so much. Considering he hadn't slept at all during the past few nights, Percy was surprised that he even _had _the energy to hate something.

Percy turned to her. "Hey. Why don't we play the quiet game?"

Estelle's humming tapered off, and Percy glared out the window. Rows of hills led into the city, flanked by lakes and forests. It should've looked beautiful, but clouds were parked were the sun should have been. The Mist hung heavy in the air, almost giving San Francisco a wispy, shadowy feel. Neighborhoods flashed underneath the bridge; little squares of color in the foggy city.

He had been to San Francisco only a few times, and neither experience was one he was anxious to repeat. Percy could almost hear Atlas' cursing from the Mountain of Despair.

Percy's conscience began tugging at him. He may have been a little bit too hard on Estelle. It's not like she really knew what was going on. In her eyes, it was probably a fun road trip with her family.

He looked at his sister, who was gawking at the sight of early morning San Francisco. She started to hop in her seat. "Big bird!"

"That's right," Percy's mother said, winking at Estelle in the rearview. "What sound does a bird make?"

"Caw!" Estelle screamed. She then began to flap her arms emphatically.

Percy followed his sister's line of vision. Sure enough, a large crow was gliding towards the bridge. Even as the vehicle was in motion, the crow somehow seemed like it was flying straight towards them. Percy's heart began to beat harder and faster as the crow continued to get closer.

"Mom," Percy muttered as the crow neared the bridge. It was too large to be a Stymphalian bird, and they rarely traveled solo.

Plus, he was pretty sure that Stymphalian birds were pigeons, not crows.

Percy unbuckled his seatbelt. The sweat on his hands slicked across the buckle. He slung his arm around Estelle so he could slide her out of the way if needed.

The crow got closer.

Percy dared not blink.

It got even closer.

Percy grabbed a nearby bottle. If it went for the window, he'd have to test his baseball skills to try to disorient it with a well-placed swing. He'd then have to kick out the back window closest to Estelle, and dive out of there while holding her.

But he couldn't leave Paul and his mother. He'd probably have to throw Estelle in the front with them, and engage with it in the back seat before throwing it out of the window it came through.

The crow seemed to look Percy right in his eyes, as it closed the distance between them.

The crow then took a quick dip and dove under the bridge. Percy looked out his other window to try to follow it, but it was gone. It was like it was the fog had swallowed it up.

Percy heard his mother's voice. "What's up?"

He looked to the rearview mirror. His mother's eyes were so focused on him that he thought they might crash. Gone was the playful mischief that was (usually) reserved for Estelle. In its place were a pair of eyes filled to the brim with deep concern and knowing gaze.

"Nothing," Percy said, taking one last look out of his left window. As a demigod, he had gotten used to expecting the worst. Annabeth used to tell him that people never really have to plan for the best case scenario. The worst-case, however, could blindside someone.

"Hey," Paul looked back at him. "Is everything okay?"

They were _not _okay. Percy knew Paul was coming from a good place, but he hated that question. Generally, when people have to ask, "Are you okay," that means that they recognize that things are not, in fact, okay.

A few days ago, Percy and Annabeth were looking at apartment listings.

Now, Percy was going to a funeral service for Annabeth.

That juxtaposition was not something that a normal person would be "okay" with.

He didn't even know how to approach this service. Her father and stepmother had apparently been alerted by Chiron of what happened to her, and had decided to throw a small wake-funeral ceremony to honor Annabeth's memory.

_Just for family, _was how they had worded it in the invitation. Yet, here Percy was, driving to their house with an invitation for him and his entire family. Percy could have understood the invitation if he and Annabeth's parents were close, but they weren't really. He had only met Dr. Chase a few times, and each time was more awkward than relatable. He didn't want to go to an event full of Dr. Chase-type figures. His mother, however, had convinced him otherwise.

_Annabeth would've came to your funeral, even if she didn't like me and Paul. _

She was right. Annabeth rarely let anything intimidate her into retreat.

"We can turn around if you want," Sally said. Percy looked in the mirror once more. Her eyes flashed to him, and back to the road. "We don't have to go."

"Mom, we're in San Francisco already. We're…what? 15 minutes away? We're not turning around."

She nodded. "All right."

He felt like a kid again. Neither Paul nor his mom would let him drive. They didn't think it was the best idea. Percy understood it, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Now, he was back here with Estelle, just looking out the window and feeling useless.

Percy wondered why anyone who move to San Francisco. He wondered if Dr. Chase really moved to San Francisco for some history research, or if that's just what he told Annabeth. Percy figured, after nearly ten years, that Dr. Chase would have finished his research. And yet, here they were- still in this house. Percy hoped it didn't have anything to do with being closer to Athena. Dr. Chase could honestly do a lot better.

Sometime later, they pulled up to Dr. Chase's neighborhood; the last (and the only blue Prius) in a line of black cars that stretched around the sizeable, brick-laden Chase residence.

"All right," his mother announced. She turned to the back seat and began to gather Estelle's things. "Are we ready?"

Somehow, Percy felt like she wasn't just talking to Estelle. He straightened his tie and stepped out of the vehicle. The humidity in the air swiftly pulled him into an embrace.

"Percy," Paul chastised. "We have to wait until we are led out to the backyard."

Percy frowned. He had never been to a funeral before- only a few shroud burnings at camp. He already felt ridiculous in his suit and slicked back hair, but now there was an entire funeral culture that he was unfamiliar with.

A few minutes after Percy re-entered the car, a slim person in a black suit and a large black hat placed a tiny rigid, orange flag on their hood. It flapped slightly in the breeze.

Percy's mom turned on their hazard lights. The person in black nodded at them, and then nodded at an unseen figure. A whistle was blown, and the line of cars started to move at a crawl.

After about a half-hour, they finally arrived at the house. A large portrait of a young Annabeth and an even younger Matthew and Bobby greeted them from the porch of the house. Even though Annabeth was smiling in the picture, it was more grim than heartwarming. She had so much of her life in front of her, just taken away.

Percy wished it would've been him instead of Annabeth. It wasn't fair- for her to be fighting for most of her life, and to be killed as soon as she found some semblance of peace.

They pulled past the portrait and into the backyard. Percy watched as the person in black herded people out of their cars, one vehicle at a time. Percy saw them bring out Dr. and Mrs. Chase, along with Matthew and Bobby.

"This was a mistake," Percy said, as he watched a few violinists play at the mouth of the yard. He shouldn't be here. He wasn't part of the family- he was just a kid from New York who happened to be lucky enough to date the most awesome, bad-ass girl in the world. He was out of place here. Plus, being a demigod in San Francisco was probably not a good idea, no matter what kind of agreement or promise the gods made. They weren't necessarily known for their commitment to keeping promises.

"Hey," Sally said. "You were invited. You were invited because they thought that you belong here. If you want to go because you don't want to be here, then we'll go. But if you want to leave because you feel like you don't belong, then you're wrong. Annabeth cared for you enough to make plans for the two of you in the future. Give it a few years, and the two of you…" her mother trailed off.

Percy's heart sunk. He couldn't say that he hadn't thought about marrying Annabeth. It was one of the few things he knew he wanted to do in his lifetime. However, he never thought they'd actually get to that point- marriage seemed so far away that it was a distant glimmer rather than a tangible goal for him.

Percy felt two warm hands take his cold ones. "You did the best you could. It's not your fault."

"Honey. The funeral attendant's coming up," Paul warned.

Sally gave Percy's hands one more meaningful squeeze and turned back to the front. The attendant knocked on the driver's side door, and his mother exited the car. "All right, everyone, let's go."

Percy scooped Estelle up and stepped outside. Estelle's face began to contort as if she had eaten a raw lemon. She started to spit.

"I know," Percy grumbled. It seemed like she wasn't a big fan of the humidity either.

The attendant gestured for them to follow the line of cars into the backyard.

As they entered the backyard, Percy's eyes immediately fell on the large display at the head of the gathering, next to a small stage. It was an open mahogany brown coffin, adorned with gray and orange lilies. The coffin sat on a bed of toy planes, stuffed animals, Legos, and handmade crafts. Small models of national monuments were attached to the brim of the coffin. Inside the coffin were more pictures of a young Annabeth; some by herself, and some with friends that Percy didn't recognize. In the pictures, though, Annabeth didn't seem happy. Rather, her brow was furrowed, like she was truly stressed about what activity she wanted to do at recess that day. Etched in the inside of the coffin was a chariot, expertly carved into the material.

Paul and Estelle filed into the last row of seats, followed by Sally and Percy. There were more people here than Percy thought- at least thirty people bustled around the backyard, greeting people and taking their seats. Percy only recognized a few of them.

At the front of the yard was Dr. Chase. He was talking and smiling, but his usually intense brown eyes now seemed distracted and unfocused. His glasses was missing a lens. His previously well-trimmed hair was now grown out a little bit more, and he was now sporting the makings of a beard. Percy could tell he hadn't shaved or slept in a while, something Percy could relate to. Percy would've looked the same, if Paul hadn't lent him his clippers and if his mom hadn't strongly encouraged him to use them.

Mrs. Chase rubbed her husband's back solemnly. Percy remembered Annabeth describing her stepmother like the Wicked Witch of the West. He was surprised, however, when she seemed more understanding than he had expected. It was as Annabeth said- people never have to plan for the best case scenario. Today, however, Mrs. Chase looked beat down, like she was drained of the energy that kept the constant flow of cookies running through the Chase home. She did, however, intermittently shoot looks at Matthew and Bobby to make sure they weren't fighting.

The twins sat in the front. Matthew gave a deadened stare at the display while Bobby half-heartedly picked at his phone. Percy was floored; anytime he saw them, they were playing with Legos. Now, they seemed disinterested in toys or their phones. They just seemed sad.

Percy spotted a boy of about eighteen, with short, tangled hair. He was slim, but lean, with a jawline so sharp that he could probably cut straight through the Mist. He wore a black tie on a white shirt that was too big for him. He seemed to be telling a story to a few other relatives. Percy remembered Magnus, Annabeth's…eccentric cousin. Percy hoped he'd gotten better at diving since their last training session.

Percy opened his hands and looked at the lines in his palms. He remembered the Hermes cabin giving out free palm readings to other campers a year or so ago. They called it _palmistry, _the ability to read someone's future using their hands.

Percy traced his finger along his life line. He would give everything he had to be able to hold Annabeth's hand just once more.

_Heroes never get to be ready, do we? __We just do the best we can, _Annabeth had said to Alex Fierro, someone who was probably a little more than just a friend to Magnus.

_Yep. Usually, it works out, _Percy had responded. _We haven't died yet. _

And usually, it did. But in the back of his head, he knew that they were rolling the dice every time they went on some quest or encountered a monster. He guessed that he figured that he and Annabeth would be safe if they actually made it into adulthood.

Goosebumps crept up his arm. He felt like there were ghosts were around the area, but not ghosts in the _Paranormal Activity _kind of way. These spirits seemed more amicable than malevolent, more peaceful and sad than angry or vengeful. He wondered if his hunch was right and some remnants of their fallen allies were around here.

He would hate to see a ghostly Luke waving at him.

Then again, Annabeth had told him that Magnus was technically dead as well…so maybe there actually were ghosts around here. He wondered if Magnus mourned Annabeth's death like the rest of her family, or if death was more like someone moving to a new place far away.

Percy tried to stop thinking about it before he gave himself a headache.

Mrs. Chase tapped the microphone.

Like it was practiced, everyone began to find their seats.

"Thank you all for coming," Mrs. Chase said. "We wish that we could have gathered under better circumstances. This will not necessarily be a traditional funeral service. Rather, this was just a moment to reflect on our loss of one of the brightest souls I've ever met, Annabeth."

A resounding _mmmm _cascaded through the small crowd. Percy saw an older woman bow her head and make the sign of the cross.

"Anna-beth," Estelle babbled. Before Paul or his mother could shush her, a middle-aged man with blonde hair turned around.

"Sh!" He shot Percy a disapproving glare.

Percy looked at his mother to find her mouth tightening.

"Hey. Easy, Mom," Percy whispered.

She exhaled and nodded.

"So, we'll have a moment for anyone to come up and say a few words about Annabeth," Mrs. Chase announced. "I just ask that you raise your program before you come up, and wait until you get called."

Percy saw Paul look to his left, and then to his right. He looked at Sally, and mouthed, _Program? _

Sally shrugged.

Mrs. Chase stepped to the side of the stage like the vice president at a political rally.

Percy looked around. Everyone seemed to be waiting for someone else to get up there.

Over to the side, the funeral attendant stood with their head tilted to the ground. Their large hat shrouded their entire face, so they looked like a black sunflower.

The silence fell upon the area like fog.

His mother shifted uncomfortably. She leaned to Percy and whispered, "Is anyone going to say something?"

The guy in front of them turned around. "SH!"

"_You _shh!"

Paul shook his head and Estelle clapped.

Finally, the older woman who had made the sign of the cross put her program in the air. The program was printed on the background of a childhood photo of Annabeth. It made Percy feel weird; there weren't any recent pictures of Annabeth. It was probably because they hadn't taken any of her, and she hadn't sent anything to them. Even though the setup and the music was beautiful, he knew Annabeth wouldn't have liked it. She would've preferred a small shroud burning at Camp Half-Blood, with her friends and a few of her allies.

Mrs. Chase nodded to the old woman with her program up. She took some time to shuffle to the stage. "_A-hem, _hello, everyone! My name is Isabelle, and I am Frederick's aunt. I'm Anna's sister."

The audience nodded reverently. Percy didn't know who Anna was, but she seemed to be a big deal to the audience here.

"I only met little Annabeth a few times. She's probably no longer little, but she'll always be that to me."

The crowd gave a rumbling laugh. Percy felt it odd that she was talking about Annabeth in the present tense.

"She'll always be that little girl with the strongest gray eyes. She wouldn't let you get away with anything. She'd point out every discrepancy, notice every little trick."

The audience was nodding with each word.

"But she'd appreciate you for trying," Isabelle recounted. "She was smarter than us, but never boasted about it. Annabeth was too smart and too good for this world. Even after we've lost Randolph…Natalie…little Aubr-"

Her voice cracked, and she took a handkerchief to cover her tears. Dr. and Mrs. Chase quickly rushed to her side, helping her off the stage. Percy had heard stories about Annabeth's father's side of the family, a lineage that seemed cursed to meet horrible fates.

Isabella seemed to have inspired the other guests, because people couldn't raise their programs quickly enough.

For nearly fifty minutes, Percy sat through guests giving strangely detached narratives about Annabeth's potential and character.

"-Annabeth was intelligence personified-"

"-she helped me through my financial crisis-"

"-she would've taken over the world had she lived-"

"-she walked me through how to change my tire-"

"-Annabeth was always fashion-forward"-

Percy listened as the attendees' speeches fit together to create an image that was simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. Everyone spoke from a reserve of limited knowledge, quick to admit that they may have had only last seen her when she was five, or that they only talked to her through handwritten letters. Annabeth, according to these people, was this mysterious genius who should have gone into politics or engineering. They didn't, however, seem to truly know who Annabeth was. No one here seemed to have the complete picture. Chiron probably should've been here; he knew more about who Annabeth actually was than most of the people here.

Dr. Chase then stood. A hush fell like a huge tarp over a baseball field. The wind ceased and Dr. Chase stepped to the podium. He took off his one-lens glasses, and set them in front of him. "If I'm being honest, all that I've heard so far is how smart Annabeth was. And she was, in fact, very brilliant. But that's not all she was. She was brave. She was strong. She was driven. She never gave up. She had everything that people loved about her mother, with none of the things that makes me so…aloof."

Mrs. Chase looked away. Percy had a feeling that he wanted to use a different word than _aloof. _

"Above all, she was _kind. _She was willing to give a second chance, even to those like me who didn't deserve it. She was the indomitable Sparta and the conscientious Athens, facing a world of demons and struggles with an unparalleled tact and grace. Even when it seemed like the entire world was against her, she decided to fight rather than give up. Even though she fought for a while, her demons…"

Dr. Chase trailed off, and stepped off the stage. Mrs. Chase stepped up. "Beautifully said, Frederick. Annabeth was brutally taken by us, in a random, senseless act of violence. This is why it's important to keep your loved ones close, and to make sure they fall into the right crowds."

Percy's mouth felt dry. He looked at his mother, who looked confused.

_Are they saying that her death was because she had bad friends? _

Dr. Chase left the yard, striding past the funeral attendant. Mrs. Chase watched him go, and then dabbed at her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just a very emotional time. Please excuse us. Thank you all for coming. Feel free to move into the house for some refreshments. We even have a photo album!"

A laugh stirred through the crowd as everyone began to stand.

Percy looked at his mother. "What was that? Why are they acting like the people at camp were a gang or something?"

She folded her arms and shook her head at the now unmanned podium. "I don't know," she muttered. "Maybe it's easier to handle than the truth."

Percy frowned. Or, maybe they didn't _know _the truth.

Paul stepped up while holding Estelle. "Do you think that if she had told the truth, that people would understand?"

Percy didn't answer. He had a good point- he didn't know how they would react if Dr. Chase stepped up there and talked about Arachne.

Percy felt a hand on his back. "Son?"

Percy turned to see Isabelle, the older woman who had given a speech earlier. "Oh, _uh, _hi. I'm Percy."

Isabelle smiled like she knew exactly who he was before he said anything. "You and Annabeth were a couple, weren't you?"

Percy nodded.

Her eyes twinkled with knowledge. "I've seen your picture. Thank you for protecting her, even in this crazy world out there, isn't it?"

She winked at him. Percy blinked. It seemed like she saw more than she let on.

Percy's mother stepped around him, and shook Isabelle's hand. "Hi, I'm Sally, Percy's mother. This here is my husband, Paul, and my daughter Estelle."

"Oh, hi, there Sally. Wonderful to meet you. And my goodness, Estelle! You have the most beautiful eyes."

Estelle beamed.

"Sally, you have a beautiful family!"

Percy and Paul slipped away as the conversation devolved into child care and dirty diapers. They then tacitly parted ways with a nod.

Percy stepped into the house. Slow jazz music filled the air inside, a stark contrast from the classy violin music playing outside. The house was a lot cleaner than when he and Thalia were there years ago. There were no more LEGO robots littered on the ground, and no more magazines sprawled around the living room. Now, the carpets and wooden floors looked pristine. The walls were painted blue and white, giving the house a softer feel. The living room had a bookshelf that was stacked with children's novels and research manuals. Background chatter and conversation came from the crowd in the kitchen, where two large white tables of fruit, crackers, and cookies stood.

Percy _was _a little hungry, but he needed to find Dr. Chase. Annabeth's father needed to know the truth. He didn't know what Chiron had told them, but Percy was sure that Dr. Chase didn't have the full story.

Dr. Chase was probably not in the kitchen- it was too packed. He needed to pivot.

Instead, Percy checked on the porch, only to find one of the Chase twins there instead.

The kid looked up at Percy and waved miserably. "Hey, Percy."

"Hey…" Percy felt like a horrible person. He could never tell which one was Matthew, and which one was Bobby.

The twin was fiddling with a tennis ball. His hair was matted down to his forehead, and he seemed to be sweating through his nice clothes.

Percy watched him toss it around in his hands. "How've you been holding up?"

"Not too well," the twin said. His voice was just above a whisper.

"Yeah, I get that," Percy said. A bright pocket of sunshine was shining behind two large clouds. "Where's your brother? How's he been?"

"He's…I don't know where Bobby is. But I don't know. He doesn't really talk to me anymore, unless the new Legend of Zelda game is out."

Matthew looked up at Percy. Percy nodded. "It's a pretty good series, I think."

"Have you ever played it?"

"No," Percy admitted.

Matthew laughed. "You're so weird."

"You have no idea."

The two were silent for a bit. Percy was about to make his exit when Matthew asked, "Did you see it happen?"

Percy looked at Matthew. His eyes looked just like Annabeth's, when she asked a question she already knew the answer to.

"Did I see…what happen?"

Matthew must've caught something in Percy's expression, because he nodded and turned away. "Annabeth didn't deserve it. She really didn't. She was a cool sister."

Hearing Matthew talk about Annabeth in past tense tugged at Percy's heartstrings, especially seeing him sit next to the portrait of Annabeth and the twins.

Matthew looked at Percy. "You were cool too."

Percy didn't know what to say. It was as glowing a review as he could've received from Matthew.

Percy nodded. "Thanks, man. Tell Bobby I say that he should try the new _Star Wars _game."

"Have you played that, at least?"

"Not even a little."

Matthew nodded. "I got you."

Percy stepped back into the house. The group of attendees had moved back out to the backyard, leaving the kitchen open for investigation. When he entered the kitchen, he saw the spoils of war. One of the two tables were somehow turned upside down. Several plates and plastic forks covered the ground. Stains and spills decorated the kitchen, like someone mistook the hummus for paint.

Percy grabbed a paper towel and started to clean.

"Percy. It's been a minute."

Percy turned to see Magnus. Magnus took another paper towel and started on the other side of the kitchen. "How's everything been?"

"_Ah_…I don't know, honestly. It's all a little weird."

"Right? It's kind of weird…I don't feel like my family quite knew Annabeth at all."

Percy couldn't stop himself from turning around. "I thought I was the only one! I mean, baby pictures all over the place? No mention of camp?"

Magnus nodded and kept his eyes on the refrigerator. "Yeah. Annabeth was in a different world than a lot of them."

He glided across the kitchen. "You know what caught me off guard? How Uncle Fred alluded to Annabeth being killed by someone."

Percy regarded Magnus. His eyes were unyielding and piercing, like an animal who had cornered its next meal.

Percy wanted to take a step back, but he held his ground against the _einherji_ standing in front of him. He didn't quite know what Magnus knew. It was probably safest to take Annabeth's advice here- take a moment to analyze the situation before speaking.

"She didn't really get killed by some random guy, did she?"

Magnus continued to get closer.

"What really happened to her, Percy?"

Magnus stopped his advance. The two stood about five feet away, sizing each other up with dirty paper towels in their hands.

His eyes turned pleading. "Please tell me."

"Well, hello, boys."

Percy and Magnus turned to see Dr. Chase coming into the kitchen, armed to the teeth with disinfectant wipes, rags, and cleaning solution.

Magnus nodded at Dr. Chase. "Uncle Fred."

Dr. Chase nodded back.

Magnus patted Percy on the shoulder. "You and I need to talk soon. Annabeth and I have...had a place in Massachusetts. It's pretty nice. Feel free to come visit, and we can have a longer talk."

The way Magnus said, "Come visit," seemed more like a demand rather than an invitation.

As Magnus left, Dr. Chase smiled at Percy. He looked at Percy's wrist to see Annabeth's necklace repurposed into a makeshift bracelet. Percy looked down at the bracelet, to see Dr. Chase's college ring glinting under the white kitchen lights.

Percy unwound Annabeth's bracelet and slid the college ring off. "Here you are, sir. I think this is yours."

Dr. Chase's gaze fell fondly on the memento. "Ah, yes. One of the few souvenirs of my not-so-glory days."

He took Percy's open hand and closed it around the ring. "Keep it."

"Sir, I can't-"

"I insist. You wear it better than I ever could. I'm sure Annabeth would agree."

Percy opened his mouth, but closed it. He wasn't quite sure what to say. He slid the ring back on the necklace, and re-twisted it into a bracelet.

Dr. Chase gave a sad smile on the ring. "You must be going through a lot, aren't you?"

Percy nodded and gave a dry swallow.

Dr. Chase nodded and made eye contact. "That's understandable. Take your time with this. It won't quite leave you, but it can get just a little more bearable each day."

The way Dr. Chase spoke about that, it seemed like he had experienced grief multiple times before.

"If you'll excuse me, Percy- I should get to this kitchen before my wife finds it like this."

Dr. Chase took his cleaning tools and began to get to work on the kitchen. Percy began to follow suit, arranging the bowls and plates into a mountain in the sink. "Sir, it made me feel…weird when you and Mrs. Chase made it seem like Annabeth had…you know."

For a few seconds, Percy was met with silence. He couldn't see Dr. Chase's expression, as his back was to him. A sigh finally escaped the professor. "Percy, when you get older, you'll realize that your relatives can only handle so much. Your mother, I've heard, is someone that has clearer vision than most. But my relatives, as well as my in-laws, are not quite in the same world."

Dr. Chase cleaned up the stains from the counters, ovens, and floors. "For them, Annabeth was a girl who was always smart and different. To them, she was also a troubled kid who ran away from home before the third grade, and maintained minimal contact until she was twelve or so. Even when she came back, she was a little different. She was always on the other side of the nation, dealing with friends that they've never really met. Even when they were in the same space, she was always on the other side of the room, drawing out plans and schematics."

Dr. Chase took one side of the capsized table and nodded to Percy. He scrambled to help with the other side. "When Chiron told me that Annabeth had been…_lost _to us, I knew that I didn't want to hear the details."

The two righted the table, and folded it up. "What I wanted to do was to give my family a chance to mourn their loss of their mysterious, troubled relative. Rather than telling them that she was the daughter of a literal Greek goddess, I decided to push a narrative that would've been easier to accept. Kind of like…this Mist that Annabeth would tell me about sometimes. Shrouding the truth in a cloak of digestible content."

Percy couldn't wrap his head around this. He wouldn't be able to bear having something happen to his family and deciding to not to hear what happened. "But don't you want to know? For closu-"

Dr. Chase held his hand up. "Please, Percy. If you don't mind. The only closure that I need is that my daughter was killed by a force that is beyond my control or influence."

Percy didn't know what it was about the Chases, but they all seemed to be able to give demands layered within polite discourse. Annabeth would do that sometimes as well, if she wanted Percy to do a favor for her, she'd make it seem like he didn't really have a choice.

He nodded. "Sorry," Percy muttered.

Dr. Chase waved dismissively. "No worries."

Percy and Dr. Chase cleaned the rest of the kitchen in silence.

Once Percy threw the last container in the trash bag, Dr. Chase wiped his brow. "Thank you very much for your help, Percy. I must go check in with my other family members. Please do feel free to find my wife and get some treats to go. Again, I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through."

"You're sorry?" Percy asked as Dr. Chase began to leave.

"Wait," he called out. Dr. Chase stopped in the doorway. "I hope you're okay too. You also lost someone. And…that's not easy. It never is."

When Dr. Chase turned back to Percy, his eyes were red and full of tears. It caught Percy off guard to see Dr. Chase so emotional.

"I did lose someone," Dr. Chase said. The tears flowing down his face compromised his rehearsed smile. "Thank you for your consideration, Percy. Have a wonderful and safe trip back."

Dr. Chase seemed to be finished with the conversation, and stepped out of the room.

Percy was left in the kitchen by himself. His back hurt a bit from bending over a lot, but he needed to find his family. He had left them alone for too long.

When he stepped back out to the backyard, he found that his family seemed to be okay. Percy's mother sitting in one of the chairs, with Estelle in his lap. She was surrounded by a small crowd of nine or ten people, all leaning in and listening to a story she was telling. Paul was using an iPad to draw out a theoretical model to some of Dr. Chase's scholarly relatives.

"Percy."

Percy turned and was met with blonde hair and gray eyes. It threw him off so strongly, that he had trouble recognizing who it was. Unfortunately, the person seemed to think that Percy had forgotten their name.

The person put a hand to their chest. "It's Malcolm."

Percy closed his eyes. Malcolm, Annabeth's half-brother.

"Right. Sorry, Malcolm, I just…you threw me off."

"No problem. It's a hard time for all of us, you know?" Malcolm wore a tailored black suit, complete with cufflinks and a tie clip. Percy caught the outline of suspenders as well. He also wore a custom watch that looked like it was designed by a joint effort of Hephaestus and Athena. Apparently, being the head counselor of the Athena cabin was treating him well- he looked like the leader of an Athenian gang.

Malcolm also was holding a yellow duffel bag in his free hand. He handed it to Percy. "This is for you."

Percy looked at it. "What?" he asked dumbly.

"This-"

Malcolm took Percy's hand and put the bag straps in it.

"-is yours. Annabeth had a few contingencies in the event of an untimely death."

_Contingencies? _

"Are you surprised?" Malcolm asked frankly.

Percy shook his head. "Not at all." Annabeth was always a few steps ahead, and loved to create a detailed set of plans. Percy guessed it made sense that she had a few plans in place, if anything happened to her.

He unzipped the bag. It was a lot fuller than he imagined.

"It's also waterproof," Malcolm offered.

Percy pulled out a bottle of coconut-scented Medea's Sunscreen. At first glance, Percy couldn't quite tell if the SPF said 5000 or 50,000.

Malcolm took the bottle and held it up. "Good for sunlight and Colchis Bull fire. Greek fire, not so much."

Malcolm put it back in the bag as Percy pulled out a laptop with the _Delta _symbol carved in its cover.

"Wait, is this-"

"Daedalus' laptop, yeah. Recovered from a corner in the spider's lair before you all took your trip to Tartarus."

The way Malcolm said "trip" made Percy feel like they had gone to the Caribbean for a vacation. Tartarus was a little like that, he guessed, except without the hotels.

"The spider...?" Percy asked, before putting together that he meant Arachne. It was probably good to not say the name out loud.

"Yeah. I would recommend that you probably not open the rest of that stuff here. You never know…you know…who may be watching."

Malcolm gave Percy an intentioanl look. He was right- monsters, spies, and other nosy individuals usually lack respect for family functions. They wouldn't be above attacking or robbing Percy at a funeral ceremony.

Percy put the laptop back in the bag. He wondered why Annabeth gave him all these things; he was nowhere near smart enough to use them, but yet, here they were.

Malcolm shook Percy's hand. "Stay safe, please. Let us know if and when you decide to come back to camp. You have a home over there."

Percy wasn't so sure.

"Oh, and if you see Thalia, shoot Camp an Iris-Message. She's been summoned to Olympus."

"Olympus? For what?" Percy hoped that it wasn't for what happened with Athena.

Malcolm looked at the sky. "Apparently, she's been...unruly. If she was a daughter of Nemesis or something, I doubt that it would be too big of a deal. But children of the Big Three tend to cause problems."

Malcolm's gaze fell to Percy. He then nodded at Percy and left to join about a dozen other kids that looked like Annabeth's from alternate universes. Most of them had blonde hair, gray eyes, and sharp, defined features. Some, however, were tall, short, wide, slim, young, older, etc.

_The Athena cabin, _he thought to himself. Now Malcolm really looked like a mob boss.

Percy held the bag carefully. This and the necklace he was wearing on his wrist was what was left of Annabeth. He needed to take care of it.

In the corner of his vision, the funeral attendant was standing uncomfortably close to Annabeth's display by the stage. Their hand was on it, and their head was bowed.

"Hey!" Percy projected.

Percy jogged a little closer. "Hey!"

He arrived at the display and looked at the funeral attendant. "What are you doing? Be careful with that- don't mess that up."

The funeral attendant looked at him, revealing striking gray eyes. "I'm afraid that I've already messed it all up."

Before Percy could register what that meant, he felt a tug on his pant leg. "Per-see?"

Percy looked down to see Estelle. His mother and Paul came up not far behind. Sally held up the keys. "You ready to head out?"

Percy looked back at the funeral attendant, but she was gone.

"Yeah," Percy said. He looked around him. "I'm ready to go."

They walked, together, back to their car. Mrs. Chase raced up to them, with a batch of homemade cookies wrapped in foil. "Don't forget these before you go! Thank you for coming!"

"Thanks for having us!" Sally said.

Percy took a bite of one of the cookies and helped Paul buckle Estelle in.

Percy didn't know if it was the cookie, the gray-eyed attendant, or the social interaction. But as soon as his head hit the back of the seat, he finally fell asleep.


	9. Warrior

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Thalia

Thalia heard a voice imprinted on her soul- this time, it was her mother that woke her.

_Wake, my daughter. _

Thalia sprung awake. The air conditioning was blaring from the car, accompanied by a sharp rattling. Caribbean music flowed from the back speakers, and the car smelled of sweat and old food.

She wiped the drool from the side of her mouth and shook her head. Drool was such an unnecessary feature for humans; it served no purpose besides being embarrassing.

She actually felt rested, though, as that was the first time she had slept in a while.

"Ex…excuse me? Baba Yaga? We're here. Southeastern Arlington."

Thalia looked up and rubbed her eyes. They passed by a sign that read, _Welcome to Crystal City!_

Large, metropolitan buildings sprawled across Thalia's line of vision. The sunlight refracted off the window panes, like they were actually crafted from crystals. There were only a few people that were walking around at this hour, but they all wore suits and were talking on the phone. It was like they were all talking to one another, in a mass conversation. Blue and black cars flashed through the area, disregarding the stop lights.

Thalia sniffed and moved to the side of the window. "Not quite. Keep an eye out for Amazon signs. Virginia is probably really excited to have Amazon move here."

The driver turned to the backseat. "Amazon?"

Thalia shook her head. She had said too much. "Just drive."

He blinked. "Sorry. I didn't mean to pry. Well, actually, my cousin has an interesting-"

Thalia wished he could see her face. "Just drive," she repeated.

They drove around aimlessly for about ten minutes.

The driver pointed in the distance. "Look! The Washington Monument!"

Thalia followed his finger to see the large pencil-shaped structure standing tall among the clouds. She didn't know they were so close to D.C. She wondered if Zeus could pick it up and sign a form with it.

"Sorry," the driver mumbled. "I just get excited. There's not many big buildings where I'm from."

Thalia felt bad ignoring him, but she knew that each word she said was a risk. She didn't know who this guy was. At any time, he could turn into a seething harpy. Even if he wasn't a threat himself, he was someone that could easily be hunted by a monster or a god about what he knows. She needed him to have as little of an impression of her as possible. She needed to be a ghost.

Thalia stayed silent.

After a few minutes, the metropolitan area transitioned into a calmer, quieter area. They passed by several sleek, modern, high-rise apartments, chain restaurants, and corporate office buildings. The sidewalks were covered with chalk drawings of flowers and cartoon characters.

Thalia thought that was kind of strange- it didn't seem like the area that many kids would play around in.

They finally passed by their first indication of Amazon; a mural filled with deep reds, purples, pinks, and oranges. The colors combined with white outlines to create a detailed _A. _A chalk message trailed from the bottom of the illustration, saying, _COMING SOON. _

A few blocks down past the mural, Thalia noticed the black and mustard yellow frames of two large, slim buildings standing next to one another. Construction workers were filtering into the site in white vans, finishing their Starbucks coffees. They looked like they had been spit out by a nearby factory that made construction workers; they all had the same navy blue construction uniforms, white hard hats, and matching necklaces.

Thalia started to suspect that something was up. Matching necklaces on construction workers was something Thalia had never seen before. As a matter of fact, it was _weird- _and if Thalia has learned anything, it's that weird stuff that needed to be paid close attention to.

Thalia tapped the driver. "Wait, slow down. Pull into the McDonald's right here."

After he did so, Thalia got out and crouched behind a dumpster to get a closer look.

Sure enough, she noticed that they weren't necklaces.

They were _collars. _

She jogged back to the car. "Linger here for the next hour. If I'm not out by then, leave and forget about all of this."

"Wait, for only an hour?" the driver asked.

Thalia paused. If she was the driver, she wouldn't care about his mean, invisible demigod at all. If she was in his place, she would've taken the opportunity to leave and never come back. However, he was asking clarification questions as if he truly _cared _about what happened to her.

Thalia shook her head. What was she thinking? He didn't care about her. She's just being dumb- he was probably asking so he could plan his escape.

She turned back towards the buildings under construction. "Yeah, an hour."

"Why just an hour?"

"I'll have an answer by then." Thalia left before he could ask any more questions. She passed by the dumpster, vaulted over a fence, and ran past a small office building. Thalia could see the purple in the mural from her position. She then approached the construction site, now crawling with men. Collared construction workers swarmed the area, hauling tools and wielding power equipment. The dust being released in the area made it hard for Thalia to see.

She debated taking off her invisibility cap. She knew if she got past these individuals and found the Amazon base, she'd likely scare the warriors. And, when dealing with a tribe of warrior women, it was probably not a good idea to scare them.

From what she heard from Reyna, Amazons liked to feel in control. According to Reyna, that's what made them such a good fit for Hylla. If Thalia was to successfully engage with the Amazons, she knew that needed to come in from a place of reverence, but balance it with a strength they could respect.

And visibility indicated strength.

Thalia took off the cap. Immediately, the vast majority of the workers looked towards her. They stared at Thalia for a beat, and then began to look at one another as if they didn't know how to react to Thalia's presence.

One of them stepped towards her and crossed his arms. His biceps were bigger than Thalia's head, and his beard looked like it was born from flames.

In a gruff voice, he asked, "How can we help you?"

Thalia eyed his collar. It blinked rhythmically, and she saw it was engraved with _Amazon._

Thalia cleared her throat. Time to earn her Oscar.

"How dare you even ask me that," Thalia sounded out slowly. "Why would you ever even speak out of turn?"

The man regarded her, as stoic as one of Zeus' gargoyles. Silence permeated the air as much as the dust did.

"Now, I'm addressing you. Speak," Thalia demanded, gesturing around wildly. "Why did you speak out of turn? I transfer here from Washington, and _this _is how I'm greeted?"

The man unfolded his arms. For a terrifying second, Thalia was scared that she had misjudged the situation, and that she had just made an enemy.

Maybe the collars were fashion choices.

Maybe they were just regular construction guys who Hylla had contracted out to help build the foundation of the building.

Maybe Thalia was just being an asshole for no reason.

The man then bowed to her. "My apologies, my lady. Please forgive me."

Thalia struggled to keep her face neutral, even though her heart was doing backflips. "No. Take me to Hylla. Now."

The man nodded and brought Thalia to a hole in the middle of the construction site.

Thalia crept towards Annabeth's dagger, in case he decided to try anything. However, with a tap, he revealed a ladder that led down the hole. He then looked at Thalia bashfully, and proceeded to climbed down.

Thalia looked around at the construction site before she followed. The men saw her looking, and proceeded to continue on with their work as if they had just seen their classmate admonished by a teacher. This time, though, there was no chatter, stories, or gossip. It was just work.

Thalia nodded, and followed the guy down the ladder.

They descended for what seemed like forever, until they landed in a tunnel made of marble. Huge drafts of air were blew down the opening. A thin coat of dust lined the floor. The man turned to Thalia, and bowed his head. Thalia nodded at him as permission to continue.

Seeing him obey so quickly made her think about Luke. Luke usually ended up doing what Thalia wanted, but not without a fight. He always challenged her, pushing her to make her ideas stronger and her plans better. She hoped she had succeeded at doing the same for him.

Thalia continued to follow the guy through the tunnel until they reached an obsidian stone escalator that took them down even further. It led to a facility in an expansive cavern that looked like it was only sixty percent constructed, as there were still columns, monitors, conveyor belts, and equipment that looked like were partially built. Even though Hazel had told her that the Amazon base in Washington was like an amusement park, full of conveyor belts that looked like water slides, this base only had a few stray boxes full of weapons, shields, and armor. Diamonds were embedded in the ceiling and the walls, glowing like individual lightbulbs.

Empty shelves were stacked alongside the walls of the facility, about ten feet apart each. The shelves continued way up, farther than any human could reach without equipment. She even doubted that Typhon would be able to reach up and take something off the shelf.

Construction workers with the same navy blue uniforms and collars skittered through the area, packaging boxes manually or screwing in more shelves. There were only a few women in the area. They were tall, athletic agents dressed in clean black suits. They held iPads and directed the work that was happening with a lot of pointing and yelling. A chute led straight up through the ceiling, leading to what Thalia assumed was supposed to be the inventory in the completed building.

Thalia spotted a young woman in a wheelchair coming up to her. She wore a black pantsuit, with auburn hair cut short. She had an earpiece that blinked red occasionally. When she saw Thalia, her face melted into a smile. "Thalia."

"Kinzie," Thalia acknowledged, clasping Kinzie's arm.

As she looked Kinzie over, she couldn't help but feel bad. The Hunters' and Amazons' fight with Orion was not a pretty one, and resulted in some long lasting consequences for both groups. Artemis, on the Hunters' side, decided to change up the training that Hunters received, as well as expanding the number of groups throughout the world. Doing so, according to her, would give her and the Hunt the resources necessary to withstand a devastating attack of the sort without having their numbers depleted to near zero.

The Amazons, conversely, decided to withdraw a lot of the help they offered in demigod skirmishes, as such participation held the potential to result in the injuries and deaths of their warriors. Kinzie was just another example of that- a brave fighter that had lost her legs as a result of the battle.

Kinzie shot a glare at the man near Thalia, who averted eye contact, bowed, and scampered away.

Kinzie's eyes fell on Annabeth's cap in Thalia's hand. "Nice hat."

Thalia held it up and regarded it. It needed a serious wash. "Thanks. It belonged to a friend."

Thalia put her hands on her hips and looked around. "Wow. This really is coming together. It has the potential to be even better than your other base."

Kinzie's smile doubled in power. "You like it? It took me almost a year to put this together. Wait until you see the lions."

Thalia hesitated. "Maybe later. I need to speak to Hylla."

Kinzie's smile wavered. "Hylla?"

"Yeah," Thalia nodded. "As soon as possible. It's kind of time-sensitive."

Kinzie's gaze lingered on Thalia a little too long before she nodded and began to head through the facility. Occasionally, Kinzie would bark an order at an Amazon who, in turn, would bark at an employee. The two approached a set of silver double doors decorated with a black _A _on each side. Kinzie held up her wrist, and the doors slid open to reveal a meeting in active progression.

Twenty Amazons stood around a holographic model of the base, taking notes on their devices with personalized styli. In the center of the glowing blue model was a tall woman with olive skin and long black hair. She stood by a large fan that blew her hair in all kinds of wild shapes.

She wore an intricate pattern of gold links around her waist like a belt, and wore combat boots under her suit.

Thalia recognized Hylla from the few battles they've had with one another. Her eyes were focused, like two lasers that bore through whatever unfortunate soul was on the other side of it. Her sharp features flowed as she gave a speech to the group. She was explaining something complicated, using both her words and the editable holographic model to communicate her vision.

Watching Hylla talk about the plan gave Thalia a sense of déjà vu. She looked so much like her sister- if she didn't know that they were sisters, she would've guessed that they were fraternal twins.

-we put the pegasi right here," Hylla strategized, as she pointed to the corner of the model. "We need to make sure that the boxes are comfortable for them. They need space for their wings to-"

Kinzie waited in the back of the room, for Hylla to notice her. Fortunately, Hylla noticed them almost immediately. A microcosm of surprise showed on Hylla's face, but it was quickly masked with an air of confidence.

Hylla stepped forward. The group of Amazons stepped to the side to create a path for their leader.

"Thalia. How have you been?"

"Hylla. I've been better. How's everything here?"

Hylla gestured around her. "It's slow, but good. We're making progress."

Hylla trained her eyes back on Thalia. "What brings a Hunter in our space? Is there a message from Artemis?"

"Artemis? I'm here just because I missed Kinzie so much," Thalia bluffed.

Kinzie blushed, turned her wheelchair, and retreated to a corner.

Hylla stepped close to Thalia. For a beat, the two women sized each other up.

Hylla raised her eyebrows. "You've gotten a bit taller. And you look…"

Hylla hesitated, as her brow furrowed.

"Yeah, thanks. I know. I'm no longer with the Hunt," Thalia disclosed. "I'm here on my own business."

And there it was. It felt weird to say that, like Thalia had just left her parents' house to go to college. She felt like she was carving her own individual identity for herself, after being associated with the Hunt for so long.

Hylla nodded approvingly. "_Mm. _Have you decided to come over to this side? We're always bringing in new Amazons. We have a tailor in the back to fit you with one of these wonderful suits. They're very breathable."

"We have lions!" Kinzie offered from the corner.

"Enough with the lions," Hylla hissed, before collecting herself once again.

Thalia couldn't help but sigh. The Hunters and Amazons wouldn't hesitate to help one another in a pinch, but they were like rival sports teams from the same city. There was nothing they inherently had against one another, and they rarely played against each other. They basically played in two different leagues. However, comparisons were bound to be drawn, and each group thought they were the better organization. Thalia figured that the Amazons wouldn't hesitate to steal one of the Hunt's former lieutenants, as a prize trade.

"I have a situation, Hylla," Thalia said. She hoped that if Hylla got the idea, she would clear the room so she could talk to Hylla privately.

Hylla eyed Thalia's Aegis bracelet, and turned to walk back towards the display. She swiped something on the holographic display, and the doors behind them slid shut.

"What's going on, Thalia?"

Thalia looked at the Amazons in the room, as well as Kinzie in the corner. She was in a sticky situation. If she asked for the room, she would seem desperate and weak- two things that Amazons weren't fond of. Weakness was up there with a lack of eye contact, chauvinism, and costly shipping as things Amazons hated.

However, if Thalia stated her business, any of these Amazons could try to detain her under orders of the gods.

She needed to carry on with strength and confidence. Thalia straightened her back and squared her shoulders. "A few days ago, Annabeth Chase was killed."

Most of the Amazons bowed their heads. Hylla clenched her jaw and nodded.

"We'd heard the news from our sources. We're sorry for your loss- she was a formidable warrior," Hylla judged.

Thalia nodded. She wanted to look at the ground, but managed to hold her gaze. "Annabeth was my sister, and one of my best friends. When I first met her, Luke and I promised to take care of her."

At the mention of Luke, a few of the Amazons shifted in discomfort.

"And…we failed. We lost her. We each went our separate ways; me with the Hunters, Annabeth with Camp Half-Blood, and Luke…down a path of his own.

Thalia took a moment to collect herself.

"We lost our way," she admitted. "And we paid the price."

Thalia saw Hylla's eyes glaze over. "I know what it's like to lose one's way," Hylla said. "It may cost you a lot, even a sister."

Thalia nodded. Reyna didn't talk about her relationship with Hylla very much, but from what Thalia gleaned, it wasn't like they went to festivals together, swapped clothes, or talked about boys like other sisters.

"Annabeth didn't die as a result of a random monster attack," Thalia projected. "Athena bet Annabeth's life in a contest with Arachne."

The room exploded into murmur and movement. Hylla kept her eyes on Thalia. She didn't seem as surprised as the others in the room. "That's a strong accusation, Thalia. I'm sure your father wouldn't be happy with such a claim."

"Why? Because it's true? And it's not a claim. I was there. I was there, watching a situation that devolved out of control quickly."

Thalia could have sworn she saw Hylla's eyes become preoccupied, perhaps with a memory long ago.

Thalia needed to capitalize on that, and actually succeed- not like her exchange with Nico. "The Olympian gods have shown, time and time again, that they are just…_not good_. They lie, kill, rape, and manipulate. All because they _can._"

The Amazons began to look at one another. Hylla continued to stare.

"They have children with mortals, and then leave them, rationalizing it with an explanation that's too flimsy to hold up," Thalia said. She saw a few Amazons look away.

"We're demigods," Thalia continued, looking at Kinzie. "We're not expendable. We're not pawns. We're people. We deserve more."

The only sound Thalia could hear was the large fan blaring.

Hylla raised an eyebrow. "When you say we deserve more…what do you mean by that? What are you asking?"

Thalia suddenly felt warm. Her mouth felt like cotton, and she was feeling like she was watching herself talk.

Hylla put her hands behind her back. "Why are you here, Thalia?"

Thalia ran a hand through her hair. It was times like these where she missed having some backup. She was always either trying to survive with Luke and Annabeth by her side, on a quest with some other campers, or moving with the Hunt. Now, she felt especially lonely, arguing her case to a room of armed Amazons.

"I'm here because…I want justice."

Most of the Amazons turned to Hylla, as if asking, _Uh…what are you doing? Did you hear what she just said? Kick her out! _

Hylla stepped closer to Thalia. "Let me get this straight. You're coming to us with the intention of getting back at a god. An Olympian. Not only that, but your little speech made it sound like this was the first step of a larger plot."

Hylla paused, analyzing Thalia's reaction. Thalia attempted to keep her face neutral, but she felt like it was to no avail. Hylla seemed to see straight through to her heart, reading the words engraved on her spirit. "A plot…to overthrow the Olympians. Not grounded in strategy, but founded by emotion."

"I have a strategy," Thalia countered. "It's a simple one."

"No," Hylla said. "You're done here. We are not only the Amazons- a lot of us are demigods. Many of us are close to our godly parents, so your speech is sounding a little threatening to our family. Even entertaining this little display is risky."

Thalia shook her head. "Hylla, I'm not coming for all the gods in the world. I'm just saying that I want some kind of support. Some kind of backing during this. I thought of all people, you'd und-"

Hylla shook her head. "The _only _reason I let you continue speaking is because of Reyna. But your audience with us is done."

"Hylla, plea-"

"We're done," Hylla said firmly. "Sinai, strip the former Hunter of her weapons. Kinzie, take her to the prison."

Hylla adjusted her earpiece and turned back to the Amazons.

_The prison? _

Thalia went for her spear, but immediately, ten Amazons surrounded her with swords.

Kinzie slowly approached Thalia.

"I wouldn't do that," she said miserably. "Wait for Sinai to retrieve your weapons."

_Fight! _A voice screamed to Thalia. And she knew she wanted to. She rarely let anyone push her around, and she could think of probably five ways to get out of this situation. Unfortunately, four out of those five ways included a few dead Amazons and Thalia missing a few limbs, so Thalia figured that it wasn't the best move.

She had to submit, at least for now- until she could get to an area less secure than the literal throne room of this Amazonian headquarters.

One Amazon with toffee brown skin and large curly brown hair approached her. Her amber eyes scanned Thalia warily, checking for any changes in body language or intent to attack. She hesitated before fully patting down Thalia, removing Annabeth's cap, dagger, and spear. She didn't seem to recognize Aegis in its bracelet form, but Thalia wasn't too keen to remind her.

Once Sinai gave a final pat, she nodded at Kinzie in confirmation.

"Follow me," Kinzie said.

Thalia was about to say something, but she knew she had already lost her opportunity. Even though Hylla and Reyna had a tragic past, Thalia figured that Hylla found some way to hold affection for the gods. It was something that Thalia couldn't quite relate to at the moment. Plus, Hylla was a politician, who probably had several exclusive Amazon deals with some of the Olympian gods. Thalia's proposal was probably jeopardizing some of her clientele.

Thalia followed Kinzie towards a stone corridor at the back of the room. Thalia took one last look at Hylla, who was watching her go with a face of stone.

The corridor began to hit a decline, as Thalia and Kinzie proceeded in silence.

"You know," Kinzie said. "Most people would be begging for their lives at this moment."

"I'm not most people," Thalia said to the back of Kinzie's head.

Kinzie gave an affirmative _mmmm. _

If Thalia still had Annabeth's hat, she would've disappeared from view, and snuck out of the base. But for now, she was stuck. She had Aegis, but she didn't have too much experience fighting her way out of an Amazon stronghold with just a Frisbee. If she was caught or subdued, she would probably be executed.

Thalia wasn't too worried, however. The weird thing was- Thalia didn't think that imprisonment was the worst thing in the world. She had faced much worse in her life than an Amazonian prison. Plus, it would give her some time to think and some time out of the public eye until she was ready to strike again.

Thalia then followed Kinzie in a dizzying set of twists, turns, and drops. Thalia found herself beginning to sweat so deep underground. The halls began to get narrower, and Thalia began to feel the flames of claustrophobia.

Finally, Kinzie led Thalia into a hollowed-out dirt room about the size of a wrestling ring.

Several women were in the room, though, too many for the size of the room. There were at least twenty people in the room, all women wearing black and brown Kevlar-type armor. Matte black masks covered the lower half of their faces, covering their identities. Each of them held multiple knives and swords. Small shelves lined the dark dirt walls, full of weapons, ammo, shields, masks, and armor. Each of them looked like an assassin that could each probably kill ten people in less than a minute.

Thalia felt her body go stiff. She stopped advancing immediately. She felt her mind go into hyperactivity, searching for all the ways she could escape this situation. She thought this was imprisonment- not an execution.

Thalia reached for her bracelet.

"At ease, warrior," a voice sounded from behind Thalia.

Thalia turned to see Hylla, with her arms crossed. Her earpiece was off, and she was hiding the ghost of a smile on her face.

"We're not killing you or throwing you in a cell. Part of me actually agrees with you."

Thalia saw that Hylla wasn't armed. "What do you mean?"

Any trace of a smile left Hylla's face. "I know how cruel this world can be. I'm sure you heard of the story of me and Reyna, yes?"

Thalia wondered if this was a trap. Hylla seemed so against Thalia's proposal initially, but now she was giving Thalia a history quiz on C.C.'s Spa and Resort.

"…I have."

"Then you know how the gods just overlooked the destruction of our home. Just because some of their kids was doing business."

Thalia wondered if the gods ever considered punishing Percy and Annabeth for helping destroy the ship.

"You know that the gods didn't save us from those pirates. We had to save ourselves. Some of the other young women were…not so lucky," Hylla disclosed. "We had to do some things we weren't proud of, to survive."

Hylla didn't even have to expand on what she meant. Thalia could only imagine. There was a darkness behind her eyes that made Thalia think that the Amazonian leader was capable of anything. She was not only a survivor, but a fighter as well.

"Put simply, Olympus has been in need of new management for a very long time," Hylla theorized as she stepped past Thalia and into the room of the assassins.

"Wouldn't you agree?" Hylla asked.

All eyes were on Thalia now. Thalia nodded cautiously. She was slightly relieved that her one escape path was no longer blocked.

"I can't publicly endorse you, lest we start a war between us and the…newly expanded Hunters. Even worse yet, a war between us and the gods."

"Wouldn't be much of a war, but more of a slaughter," Kinzie offered under her breath.

Hylla shot Kinzie a disapproving glance before addressing Thalia once more. "Still, I had to publicly reject your request. You never know who's in the room."

Thalia agreed. She didn't know anyone who was in the room.

Hylla picked up a spear from the shelf. "But I can privately support you."

"Support…me?" Thalia needed more information. People didn't just help others out for no reason. Hylla wanted something from this deal. Somehow, it was benefiting her. And Thalia needed to know how.

"Yes. There are many Amazons who worship war gods like Ares and Bellona," Hylla said.

"Which means…there are some that are not," Thalia asked.

"Yes. There are some who are godless. There are some who were previously loyal to Otrera, like Doris and Lulu over there. They recommitted to me, and now have been working thrice as hard for the sake of the Amazons."

Two masked warriors raised their weapons in greeting.

Kinzie rolled her eyes. "It took getting saved by Hazel for them to see the light."

"Kinzie," Hylla chastised. She then put the spear back on the shelf.

"There are some," Hylla continued. "Who used to be Hunters, but eventually became disillusioned with Artemis' creed."

About five women bowed their head in recognition. Thalia wondered if the Amazons had ever tried to recruit Hemithea or Josephine. Zoe would've made a good Amazon as well, if Heracles had acted right.

"And finally, there are some who are not loyal to gods per se, but to the protection of demigods."

Three warriors stepped forward, with the one in the center being larger and buffer than the other two.

"These individuals join the Amazons' black ops unit, a group who look to complete outreach and extraction missions furtively. These Amazons are called the Primes."

Thalia's mouth twitched. "The Primes? Like Amazon Prime?"

"Where do you think the name came from?"

Thalia cleared her throat. "I…I don't know. But these people are Primes? Like Amazonian assassins?"

The big and buff one took off her mask, and Thalia had to fight a gasp.

Thalia stared into the face of Clarisse La Rue.

"Clarisse? What in Hades are you doing here?"

Clarisse blew a stray hair out of her face. She looked older, having grown into her muscle. "Same as you, girlie. Trying to make a difference. But without the help of the gods."

"I'm guessing Ares hasn't been the best father lately?"

Clarisse suddenly took interest in the ground. "Recently, he hasn't been too interested in any of his daughters. I don't need him, though. I have my girls."

Thalia never took Clarisse as someone who would say something like, _I have my girls. _Looking around the room, though, Thalia stipulated that these assassins looked like Clarisse's crowd.

Thalia blinked. "When did you join the Amazons?"

"About a year ago," Clarisse said. "After everything, I just needed to get away."

"I understand that," Thalia agreed.

Hylla stepped forward. "What is your plan, Thalia? What is your plan to overthrow the gods?"

Thalia took a breath. "I want to get to the Ophiotaurus."

Somehow, even while deep underground, a chill seemed to spread within the room. Thalia was met with silence and slack-jawed expressions by the non-masked people in the room.

Kinzie shook her head in disbelief. "The Ophiotaurus? You mean the thing that holds the power to-"

"-destroy the gods," Hylla finished. "Thalia. You want to become a godkiller?"

"Isn't killing innocent animals against your like…Hunt code?" Kinzie asked.

"Creatures die and are reborn in this world, so I'm not too worried about it," Thalia explained. "And I'm no longer a Hunter."

Kinzie seemed to shrink under Thalia's gaze.

Thalia then scanned the room. "And Annabeth is dead. Because of one of the gods. And they chose to protect her rather than give her justice. The only way to get true justice is to get it yourself. Isn't that right, Clarisse?"

Thalia looked at Clarisse. She knew Clarisse liked to take matters into her own hands. She had heard that Clarisse, a few years ago, had pitched an idea of Camp Half-Blood attacking Camp Jupiter when she heard about an impending attack. Ares' children tended to get ahead of attacks, opting to beat the opposition into submission before they could even become opposition.

Clarisse even seemed shell-shocked. "You're crazy, girl."

Thalia could've sworn she heard a hint of admiration in her voice.

Hylla raised an eyebrow and looked at Thalia. "And that's it? Your plan is to use the Ophiotaurus to get vengeance."

"Yes," Thalia said quickly. "That's all it is. It sounds simple, but it's a little more complicated than we might think."

Hylla stepped closer to Thalia. Upon stepping forward, Clarisse stepped back. Hylla studied Thalia's eyes. "Thalia, I think you have more power than you let on. I also respect you as a warrior and as a leader. Your service as Artemis' lieutenant were impressive."

"Thanks…" Thalia started.

Hylla didn't break eye contact. "But you're lying."

Thalia held Hylla's gaze. Hylla seemed to know that this wasn't just a power trip, but that there was something deeper. Thalia realized that telling her about Annabeth made her motives more transparent.

"If I…_when _I do this…" Thalia exhaled. "I will use the power to bring Annabeth Chase back to life."

Hylla took Thalia by the scruff of her neck and pulled her in so their foreheads were almost touching. She smelled like a weird mix of mint and charcoal.

"Thalia. She's gone. You must accept that. I've lost much in my life, but you have to move on. If you don't…embarking on that journey will bring you nothing but pain."

Thalia swiped Hylla's hands away. "Maybe you think that. But we live in a world with bull-men hybrids and women with snakes for hair. I can bring back one soul from the Underworld."

"But you've heard about Daedalus," Clarisse said nervously. "Finding a way to cheat death never has a happy ending. Fate has a way of catching up to you."

Thalia kept her eyes on Hylla. "Then I'll change Fate."

Hylla shook her head. "Your plan with the Ophiotaurus is ambitious at best, but we will not be involved in your quest to bring Chase back. It's too risky."

"That's fine," Thalia shrugged. "I just need support to get to the Ophiotaurus. Once that happens, you all no longer have to help."

"But, even with Ophiotaurus, your chances of getting to it are astronomical. It's held in the Olympian throne room. And the Olympians, when acting together, wield virtually unlimited power. You would likely not be able to even get into Olympus, where the Ophiotaurus is held. Even if you were able to retrieve it, you'd likely meet a brutal end."

Thalia cleared her throat. "Thanks…for that vote of confidence."

"But, if anyone could do this, it would be you," Hylla admitted. "And if you actually do this…if you actually _win _this…I want immunity for the Amazons. No four-point betrayals. I want us untouched, and I want you to employ us as your cosigned shipping service."

"Wait…you want _me _to protect you all? Why would I have any power over that?"

Hylla hesitated and looked at Kinzie for help.

"Thalia," Kinzie started. "If you slayed the Ophiotaurus and destroyed the gods, that power wouldn't just go away. Even if you do end up…_ahem…_succeeding in your other goal, you'll still hold that power in you."

Thalia was having trouble wrapping her head around the implications. "So you're saying-"

"You'd be the new power of this Greek world," Hylla said.

"You'd be the only god," Kinzie reasoned.

"Or the only Olympian," Hylla interrupted.

"If you want to be called an Olympian, I guess you could be called something else," Kinzie said, getting warmed up.

"As such," Hylla said, glaring at Kinzie. "We want you to make us the enforcers of this new world. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have a driven woman in charge. We'd be behind you. The gods will never hurt people again."

Thalia nodded slowly. She didn't know how she didn't put it together before. Perhaps a tiny part of her believed that she wouldn't survive the entire ordeal, so she never needed to think about what came after. But if she ended up neutralizing the gods as a threat, she'd be the only one left. Even if everything worked out and she survived, she'd still hold the power of the Ophiotaurus inside her. It would be one hell of a power-up.

She almost said that she'd find a way to give up the power.

Deep down, though, she knew that wasn't true. She couldn't lie like that. She could do so much good with that power.

"I'd appreciate it if you kept this low-key. Ideally, Reyna wouldn't hear about this," Thalia posited. A leak to Reyna would mean a leak to the Hunters, who may end up trying to stop her. As determined as Thalia was, she doubted she could survive an onslaught by the entire group of Hunters.

Hylla took a breath. "Deal."

"Then we have a deal," Thalia agreed.

Hylla nodded. "In return, you will have access to the Primes in your endeavors. The best of our best, covert operatives that will be able to maneuver through any situation with discretion."

Thalia looked at the Primes, who stood unmoving. "I…would have access to them?"

"You would command them, under my order. You're a good leader, Thalia. I'm not too worried that I'll lose any of them."

Hylla pulled a sword off the shelf and examined the blade. "If something goes wrong, though, and it all goes south…we were never involved. You don't know us, you never came to us, and you take accountability and responsibility for your own actions."

And there it was. That was what Hylla wanted- to make a sort of investment in Thalia by taking a gamble on her success. She was putting her bet in, but making sure she had some insurance in case she lost.

"If any of the Primes are caught, they are taught to take on aliases if they're caught. Observe."

Hylla pointed to Lulu. "You are caught by an enemy. Who are you?"

Lulu stepped forward. "Zolo, loyalist to the Lord of Time."

Hylla put her hands out like, _See? _

Thalia was momentarily speechless. "That would get them killed!" She didn't want to think about what the gods would do to a Kronos sympathizer.

"That's the job," Hylla said. "We have one more condition for you."

Thalia sighed and clenched her jaw. They were working her now, trying to get as much out of the deal as they could. "What's up?"

Kinzie wheeled forward with a smile. "You help us with our current mission."

"Which is?" Thalia was wary- she had to fly under the radar for the next couple of weeks, at least, before making her play. A mission may complicate that, putting her closer to the gods' crosshairs.

"Raiding Nero's ship."

Miranda suddenly took interest in her knives.

"Nero?" Thalia asked. She had heard about the god-emperors, specifically Caligula. Even thinking about his name resulted in her tasting bile in her mouth. She wished she could've gotten her hands on him.

Hylla nodded. "The last god-emperor left, now the sole head of the Triumvirate Holdings. We're raiding his ship. There are undercover Amazons on there that have now been forced to stay…close to him. They don't have much longer before they run out of resources and they are stuck in the very roles they're playing. We need to save them. We could use a daughter of the God of the Skies on the team. Once they're saved, you are free to use the Primes for your own extraction. "

"Covert?" Thalia questioned.

"Extremely," Hylla said. "We're trying to get in, and get them out with as little noise as possible. No casualties. You go in tonight, extract them, and leave. Clarisse will go over details with you later."

Clarisse nodded and cracked her knuckles.

Thalia sighed. These Primes looked capable, but this could be a chance to save a few people and see the Primes in action. "All right. Let's do it."

Hylla pulled Thalia into an arm clasp and nodded at Kinzie.

Kinzie opened a box the size of a wallet and reached into it, somehow pulling out Thalia's full-size spear along with Annabeth's dagger and New York Yankees cap.

Miranda then brought a suit of armor out to Thalia, a stealth suit made of the same Kevlar-type material. "This is for you."

Thalia took the weapons, and began to put on the armor.

Hylla began to walk out of the room, but stopped in the doorway. She turned to give one last look at Thalia, who was halfway into the armor.

"Welcome to the Amazons."


	10. Wounds

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Percy

Percy had to stop. He fought the urge to put hands on his knees and throw up. He let loose two dry coughs. Sweat was pilling in beads on his forehead. He started to feel lightheaded, and he felt his sense of balance actively being pushed off-kilter. His chest burned with each breath.

"Come on, Percy. Keep up," Piper yelled over her shoulder.

Percy took three deep breaths and continued down the trail. The two of them had been jogging for over two hours now, including fifty minutes straight of running. This would have been a little easier for him if he was still in his Camp Half-Blood shape; training to prevail in fights to the death got his body in shape quickly. Even though Percy wasn't quite at Smelly Gabe-level, he was relatively out of shape compared to his heyday.

If he was in better shape, though, perhaps he'd be jogging with Annabeth today instead of Piper.

Piper had reached out to him via Iris-Message the day of Annabeth's family's remembrance ceremony to ask if he wanted to get together once he got back to the East Coast. Percy kind of felt like Piper had reached out to him out of sympathy; that she somehow heard about Annabeth and wanted to comfort him. She wouldn't take no for an answer, though, and the two of them met up at the Watkins Glen State Park trail six days later.

Each step burned for him. His calves were cramping intermittently as he was in motion on the trail. His vision was pulsing so much that the only consistent flash of color he could see was Piper's deep purple track jacket about thirty feet ahead of him. She had stopped her run and was now doing high-knee steps in place. Her knees were moving up and down so quickly that her leggings turned into a flash of black. He got the feeling she was waiting for him to catch up before she took off and embarrassed him once more.

A breeze blew at Percy's back, carrying him closer to Piper.

"Can we-" Percy gasped. "-take a breather? I think that's a good…please."

Piper took a breath and stopped her high-knees. She regarded Percy with a frown, like he had just thrown a bucket of water on her. Today, her eyes were golden like honey, with flecks of emerald in them. Her hair was pulled into two pigtails, braided and locked through her hair. Somehow, her hair remained immaculate, even during the run.

"Yeah, sorry," Piper said, looking away to the gigantic slabs of rock flanking each side of the trails. A flow of water fell from an unseen reserve and down the rocks like a shower at low pressure. Occasionally, the water would spray them a little when it hit at the right angle. Whenever it happened, Piper would swat the water away irritably.

Percy, conversely, didn't quite mind being sprayed at all. Today was a rough day; not just physically, but also mentally. This was one of those days where Annabeth couldn't seem to get off his mind. His heart tugged mercilessly, like it was in the hands of Estelle. He _missed _his best friend, with everything in him. Getting occasionally sprayed with water helped keep him here, in this moment, rather than retreating into memories.

"S'okay," Percy slurred as he put his hands above his head. He really just wanted to collapse into one of the lakes below them, but he knew he had to stay standing. Plus, he didn't feel like encountering any nymphs at this point in time.

The sunlight poked through the trees, illuminating the nature trail with a brilliant glow. From the angle they were at, the trail looked like a pocket of Elysium. It made Percy think about Annabeth; he wanted her to see this so badly. He had never been a hiking-type of guy, but he was pleasantly surprised with how cool it was.

"Wanna walk?" Piper beckoned back towards the trail they came.

Percy had to stop himself from nodding his head off. Together, they walked through the trail. Squirrels watched them from trees. Foxes slunk in and out of sight, and the smell of freshwater hung in the air.

Piper's footsteps were soundless. Despite her casual clothes, she looked lithe and deadly, like she was ready to unsheathe Katropis and leap into action at any point. Percy felt a little weird; Piper was definitely still in fighting shape, and she looked like she could kick his butt up and down the trail whenever she wanted to do. In contrast, Percy was doing all he could to not throw up.

"So," Piper started. "How has everything been?"

Percy watched the water splash against the rocks. "It's been rough. But I've been a little better compared to how I was a week or so ago. You probably wouldn't have even recognized me."

Piper bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, I get that. Any monsters?"

Percy imagined trying to explain to Piper about everything that happened and why he hasn't encountered any monsters recently.

"Not too many," he lied.

Percy watched Piper's brow furrow as she looked at the sun through the trees. He figured that she was one of the people that _did _know something about how he felt. She had experienced a loss like his, and yet, she was still standing. Still fighting, even to this day. She had even returned to Camp Half-Blood a few months ago to mentor and train some of the younger generation of demigods while leading the Aphrodite Cabin, which made sense as to why she was on the East Coast instead of Oklahoma.

"I was actually on the way back from a ceremony thrown by Annabeth's family when you had called," Percy recounted.

"Annabeth's family?"

"Yeah. Like 30 or so people. In California."

"Huh," Piper said matter-of-factly. Percy figured that Piper was having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that Annabeth actually had a mortal family. She was usually so formidable (and intimidating, to some) that people usually just thought of Athena as her family.

"That sucks," Piper said.

"Yeah."

"Did you speak?"

Percy thought about how weird he would feel, standing up at Annabeth's family event and talking about how great of a strategist she was and how she was so brave that she was willing to give her life to save Kronos. "No, I didn't speak. I don't…I don't think it was my place. Plus, everyone was talking about how great Annabeth was. You know, when she was six."

"As if they could truly encapsulate Annabeth's character by thinking back to when she was in first grade," Piper scoffed.

Percy shook a few insects doing the waltz on his forearms. "It's like they didn't even know her. Her own family. They just knew who she was when she was performing for her stepmother and her father."

"So, no one was there who really knew Annabeth?"

Percy thought about Malcolm and Magnus, two of Annabeth's relatives who seemed to each have an idea of who Annabeth really was. "There were a few people. Malcolm was there. You know, Malcolm from Camp Half-Blood."

Piper blinked, and Percy could've sworn that he could read her processing of the sentence just based on her facial language. "Malcolm was there?"

"Yeah."

"Anyone else from Camp?"

"No, I think-" Percy trailed off for a second. A gecko flew up a tree and into a bustle of leaves. "-I think that they had her shroud burning at Camp a little bit ago. A lot of people attended."

"Ah, okay. They even held something small for her at Camp Jupiter, apparently. A lot of people miss her."

"Word got around fast," Percy muttered.

"I mean, yeah. Annabeth was popular. It hurt a lot of people to hear what happened."

Piper was right. It was always a bit of a paradigm shift to think about the fact that the girl who liked to read books and design things had such a huge impact on the world.

"And what…what did people hear about what happened?"

"Uh, just that she had died in a surprise attack by a monster. Nothing more than that." Piper seemed to linger after the last sentence, like she was waiting to see if Percy would elaborate on what happened.

He didn't. All he could think about was how scary it was that the Olympians were able to control the narrative in that way; anything to protect one of their own. Percy wondered how many more things the gods hid or lied about. He didn't think, though, that it was a great conversation topic in the moment.

Instead, they walked in silence for a bit more. The screech of crickets made the place feel alive. Percy felt his heart tug once more, and had to fight his thoughts from running right back to Annabeth.

Piper picked up a stick and examined it. The care with which she handled it made Percy think about Frank's own lifeline; the small piece of wood thought to be the bridge between life and death for him.

Percy didn't know who thought of stuff like that. He didn't know if someone sat around and thought to themselves, _You know what would be a really good joke? Is if we tell that demigod that his life is tied to a piece of wood. _

_Great idea, Keith! I'm laughing already. Implement it immediately! _

An ache climbed through Percy's spine, prompting him to take a seat on a nearby boulder.

Piper then let the stick fall from her hands and replaced it with a canteen of water from her exercise bag. She took a swig and offered it to Percy. He nodded at her and took a drink as well. It tasted like how Percy would imagine mineral water to taste like; like healthy water that added one day to his lifespan after every sip.

Percy sat and Piper stood as they shared the water and watched a stream of water trickle down jagged rocks and pool into a lake beneath them. The water seemed to have no end; it kept coming and coming. It reminded Percy of how peaceful Montauk was for him. It was another thing that Arachne took from him; not just Annabeth, but his feeling of safety.

"You're not living alone, are you?"

Piper's voice startled Percy so much that he almost dropped the water bottle.

Percy blinked. "Huh?"

"You're not, like, alone, are you? You're not in an apartment by yourself, or under a bridge by yourself, or something like that?"

"Uh, no," Percy said, raking through his hair with his free hand. It was hard to think, but easy to breathe at that moment. It was probably because of all the trees around them. "I'm with my family at the moment. With my mom, her husband, and my baby sister."

Piper nodded. Her eyes looked fractured like the stained glass images in Catholic churches. Percy imagined that she was lost in a few memories of her own family.

"That's good," she surmised. "You don't want to be alone for something like this. When the dark thoughts inevitably come up, you want to surround yourself with people that can pull you out."

Percy understood. There had been times where he had thought about everything from killing Arachne to rescuing Annabeth's soul from the Underworld to even going after Athena herself. And each time, there was someone around to slap some sense into him, whether it was Juniper or his father.

"You know what I realized during all this," Percy asked. The rays of sunshine through the trees made Percy think of his own golden blade. He wondered if Poseidon was using Riptide in battle now, or if it was in some kind of vault somewhere, deep underwater.

"What?"

"I realized that to get through this…to _grieve…_is something that's actually really hard."

Piper nodded and put in a few quick high-knees as if her body was going to go into hibernation if she didn't do so. "Yeah, I get that."

"Seriously. It's hard to process someone's death. It would be easy to think about doing something about it, or to channel all my time and energy into blaming something or someone. But, to really grieve is something you have to be brave about."

"Is that you or your therapist talking?" Piper mused.

Percy looked up at her. "Uh…both?"

Piper threw a rock into the lake below. "Don't worry, I'm not judging or anything. I just recognized the diction. I probably needed to see a therapist when what happened…happened. But they're right. It's hard to wake up every morning sometimes, and to get back on that horse."

Percy put his hand up to shield the setting sunlight from burning out his eyeballs. "After all this time…after Jason, _er, _or, what happened to…"

Piper put her hands on her hips. She didn't seem eager to save him from his train wreck.

"I mean…has…look, has…has it gotten any easier?"

Piper folded her lips into her mouth. "I wouldn't say easier. I'd say it's more familiar. It's different."

"Right," Percy said, pretending like he was following.

"It's like an old wound, I guess," Piper theorized. "Even if it's considered fully healed, there's still a scar there. And if you swing a knife the wrong way, or stretch at a bad angle, you can open that wound back up."

_That _was an analogy that Percy definitely understood.

"It's not going to be easy, Percy. As you probably already know," Piper said. "But be brave. Be brave enough to take this journey into your own hands. Don't let anyone tell you how you should feel. Not Leo, not Apollo, not Aphrodite, not Dad-"

"Uh-huh," Percy said. It seemed like she may have opened up an old wound by talking with him.

"Not-" she blinked like she was coming back down to this conversation. "-e_r_, sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it."

"In case I haven't said it, I'm sorry," Piper offered. "For what happened, for everything. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help either. I was, well-"

"Don't worry about it," Percy muttered. "It was on me. I knew I never was supposed to be with Annabeth to begin with. It just happened. We weren't soulmates or anything, you know? She was good. I was…not. _Am _not. She was smart. I was a kid who got into fights at Yancy Academy. Even her nickname for me showed me how far out of my league she always was."

"Percy-"

"I mean, a kid from New York? Really? I'm not a hero. I couldn't save Beckendorf, I couldn't save Silena, I couldn't save-"

Piper put a hand on his shoulder. Percy was pretty sure she could feel his body slightly trembling.

Percy couldn't stop the stream coming out now. "I wasn't a good partner for her. If she was with someone else, she wouldn't have been brought to Montauk that day. And she'd still be alive. And the world would still have their best protector."

"If I was better," Percy continued. "She'd still be alive today."

Piper was silent for a bit, and all they could hear were the birds singing in unison. It seemed like they were harmonizing, like they were rehearsing for a performance. Piper slid down to a sitting position on the rock Percy was on, and pulled him into an awkward side hug.

Percy didn't want to cry, and he didn't. But his heart was screaming, begging for one more chance to hug Annabeth and to tell her that he was sorry that she got stuck with him.

"Percy…"

"I'm not good enough, Piper. I'm not. Everyone's being so nice to me, and I just…I don't deserve it. I should have found aw ay to save her"

The worst thing was, Percy felt like he needed to face some kind of consequence for not being able to save Annabeth. Instead, everyone just opted to be nice to him. People were opening their doors to him, hugging him, and even telling him that it wasn't his fault. But it _was _his fault. It was his idea to take Annabeth to Montauk, and it was his failure to speak to the water that killed her. He wanted to be punished, he _needed _to. He didn't know if he could live on knowing that Annabeth's death was his fault.

"Oh, you don't deserve it?," Piper crossed her arms in defiance. "Then what do you deserve?"

The air turned cool. Percy felt the grains of the rock he was sitting on, somewhat smooth, but still with grooves and indentations that gave it its character.

"Hm?" Piper asked. "What do you deserve?"

Percy didn't answer.

"You think you deserve pain? That you need to hurt for what you think you did?"

Percy remained silent. He knew this was a touchy subject, and anything he said at this moment could have major implications for how Piper continued on with this. He didn't want Piper to run back and tell anybody that Percy was thinking about hurting himself or putting himself in danger just so he could feel vindicated.

But part of him had thought about that. He had never felt this low before.

"Percy, you are _more _than enough," Piper snapped. "You are one of the most powerful demigods out there today. If you couldn't save her, no one could have."

Percy couldn't agree. That statement almost implied that it was _fate _for Annabeth to die, and that either way, she couldn't have escaped it. That was worse than his first theory.

"And you don't deserve pain. You don't deserve any of that," Piper argued. "I couldn't save the people in my life. Does that mean that I deserve to be hurt? Because I failed to save them."

"No, that's ridiculous-"

"_Right there! _You see that? You don't have a mean bone in your body. Well, unless you're fighting. Then you're not too nice. But you would literally be incapable of saying that I deserved pain for not being able to save my…him."

Piper sighed. "Yet, you don't extend that care and consideration to yourself."

Percy had to admit that she was making a good point. Annabeth always said it can be easier to be hard on herself than on others. Percy guessed that this wasn't too different.

"Trust me," she continued. "I know. I know what it's like. Don't let it consume you. Don't let it bring you to a place that you'll regret."

She held his gaze for a second too long before putting her head on his shoulder.

"And, Percy," Piper began. She rubbed her hand around his back in circular motions. "You were a great partner. One of the best I've ever seen. She was a lucky girl."

Percy could feel the invisible waves of charmspeak ripple through the air and permeate his mind. He wondered if Piper was doing this on purpose, or if the charmspeak had activated naturally simply because Piper believed what she was saying. He even felt himself beginning to believe her, that it wasn't his fault because he did his best to save her. Maybe he could even find a way to forgive himself, and continue to honor Annabeth in everything he did.

"Thanks," Percy said. "I appreciate that and you. Not many people quite know what…what it's like."

Piper shook her head. "No, they don't. I mean, they read or hear about it. They may even see it. But I don't think they really know what it's like-"

"-to lose someone."

"Yeah."

"For the record," Percy said softly. "You were an amazing partner and friend to him, too. I don't think he could've asked for a better person to have his back."

Piper looked up at him and Percy met her eyes. Her previously golden eyes were now mostly emerald green to match Percy's own. It was no longer the charmspeak moving towards Percy; now, it was Piper herself. A few tears traced down her face as she got closer to him, closing the distance that had been between them since they first met.

Before Percy could register what was happening, water hit a rock and sprayed the two of them. Piper flinched while Percy took a look at the lake below. He knew it probably wouldn't be deep enough to swim in, but part of him wanted to jump in; anything to get away from whatever was just going on.

"_Um," _Piper said, as she brushed her hair back. "Maybe we should-"

"…yeah," Percy finished.

The two of them walked back down the trail to their cars, a safe distance from each other. The sunset was now in full swing, with orange-yellow light now floating through the air. Anxious energy resounded through Percy's body, something Percy didn't quite know what to do with. Percy was still having trouble processing what happened. But he couldn't take the silence.

"_So_, um, have you talked with Aphrodite lately?"

Piper shook her head. "No, I…not in a little bit. Ever since everything with, _ah,_ Mother Earth wrapped up, the gods haven't really been in too much contact with us. Maybe with the exception of Hazel or Nico."

Percy felt that. Even Poseidon had been a little more distant to Percy, but at least he was making an effort. Ironically, it was the children of Hades that had the best relationship with their father now; their relationships had remained unchanged after everything happened. They probably saw Hades more than the other half-bloods combined.

"Gods…how is Hazel? How's she been?"

"Good, I think. I haven't seen her since the funeral. But Camp Jupiter hasn't burned down to the ground quite yet. I think she's making out to be an amazing praetor."

Praetor. Percy thought about the fluid nature of the title.

When Jason held it, the praetorship seemed to belong to him because he was perhaps the most powerful.

When Reyna held it, it seemed to be because she was the strongest leader.

When Octavian sought it, it seemed like a political position that came with administrative power.

When Reyna offered the position of praetor to Percy, it seemed like a partnership that had more-than-platonic implications.

Now, with Hazel taking over, it felt like the praetorship was in the right hands.

"Yeah, if anyone can keep Camp Jupiter alive, it's her."

"Camp Jupiter is almost done being rebuilt. Soon, any and all traces of Caligula and his oppression will be wiped from this world," Piper said.

Percy had never seen such derision on her face. Her words were laced not with charmspeak, but with venom. It was like she _hated _Caligula, and Percy could understand. She probably wished he was still alive so she could kill him herself, if she was anything like him.

"Camp Jupiter," Percy remembered. "I haven't seen Hazel, Frank, Nico, or even Leo in a long time. Even you. It's been a while."

Percy saw Piper's entire body language change. Even though she seemed a little awkward, she seemed calm and relaxed. However, now, she seemed cornered, like Percy hit a nerve. Her muscles tensed up and she began to slow down.

"Yeah, it's been a while…but perhaps it doesn't have…to be?"

"Huh?"

Piper sighed. "I'll just come out and say it. Leo and Calypso will be back in town fairly soon. Next week, in fact."

"Okay…" Percy wasn't sure where Piper was going with this.

After seeing Percy's slackjawed expression, Piper rolled her eyes. "We're thinking…that it would be a good idea to have an Argo II reunion party."

Percy stopped in his tracks. He hadn't thought about the Argo II reunion parties too much since Annabeth's death. The monthly tradition was usually one of the highlights of the month, but they had fallen off since Caligula's attack ensured that not all of them would be able to make it. Now, Annabeth would not be in attendance either.

"I know, it wouldn't be the same," Piper admitted. "But we need this. I need this. We all need this. It's been a rough year."

Percy couldn't disagree with that. "So, what, it would just be the five of us?"

"Well, not quite. Leo's bringing Calypso. Maybe you bring Thalia or something?"

Percy cleared his throat. After Thalia's last visit, Percy didn't think she was in quite the right mood to go with him to a reunion party. Plus, Thalia was always a little removed from the Seven; she wasn't really as close with them as Percy or Annabeth were. She was kind of off doing her own thing, running with the Hunters.

Piper put her hands up. "Look, I'm not saying they would replace what we've lost, but maybe it's a good idea to open this party up to more people. You know, more people instead of the Seven?"

Percy suspected that this was the reason Piper had reached out to him in the first place.

"I can't, Piper. Not right now. Maybe in a few months, I'll be a little bit better. But I can't be there without-"

"Look, just think about it? Please? It would just be an evening of fun and catching up…you know, about everything good going on in our lives. I mean, come on. There has to be some good."

Percy must have not looked convinced, because Piper sighed in defeat.

"Well, it was worth a try. Some mediator I am," she grumbled.

They reached the mouth of the trail, and saw Piper's car glittering in the distance.

Piper turned to him without making eye contact. "Did you, _um, _need a ride back? Or…"

"No, don't worry about it. I took the bus here, I'll take it back."

"I feel sorry for the person sitting next to you."

"I don't smell that bad, do I?" Percy was glad he wore black. His sweat stains weren't showing too badly.

Piper made the _so-so _expression with her hands and pulled Percy into a hug. "Stay safe out there. And remember to keep being brave."

She pulled away, looked at him, and began to walk off towards her old brown van. After a few steps, she stopped and turned to him. Her eyes were at the ground rather than at Percy's own. "I'm sorry again…for…that."

Percy waved it off. "I don't know what you're talking about."

A ghost of a smile came over Piper's face and she made eye contact with him. In the sunset, she could have passed for a minor goddess, with her luminescent eyes that glowed even from where she was.

She turned and walked off.

"Piper!" Percy called out after her.

She stopped once more, this time without turning around.

He had to be brave. It's what Annabeth would've wanted; for him to keep reaching out and surrounding himself with people that care for him. It wasn't going to be easy, but nothing in Percy's life was ever quite easy. At least, nothing worth fighting for.

"Send me the information," Percy said. "And let me know when Leo's back in town. Let's have a true reunion party."

Percy swore he could see straight through the back of her head to see that ghost of a smile turn into a real grin on Piper's face. She continued to walk towards the van, and Percy took a breath.

In the receding sunlight and the rapidly cooling air, Percy started to walk back home.


	11. Blood

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Thalia

_One Week Later…_

The crimson blood moon raged behind the clouds of the evening sky. The air was humid and warm, more akin to a muggy summer night than the burgeoning fall weather that was teased a few weeks prior. The splash of the waves had went from being distracting to almost being therapeutic.

For a moment, Thalia understood why people liked being on the sea. It was a different experience- a way to disconnect from everything on land and traverse the connective tissue of the world. With the right people, it could even be a fun time. She turned Annabeth's _NY _hat around through her fingers as she thought about having a picnic out on the sea with Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Luke, and Reyna.

Unfortunately, Thalia was not with those people. Those people were long gone. Instead, she had to settle for a group of scary assassins who could turn on Thalia at any second.

A few of them, however, had gained her respect. The Primes were much more grounded than the Hunters. There were no magic chariots, no Pegasi, no hippocampi, and no other help from the gods. Instead, they had their own resources and their own wits to rely on. Sometimes, that meant working a little slower than usual.

Even with these limits, Clarisse and Miranda had been impressive strategists. Their plans, which included stolen metro rides, hiding on party buses, and using the Mist to act as train conductors allowed them to get from the Amazon base to James River, through the Chesapeake Bay, and out on the Atlantic Ocean in a little over a week.

Thalia was lounging and sharpening her arrow heads on one of the four rowboats that were definitely _not _stolen from an unsuspecting shipyard owner. Her Prime armor was starting to not smell the best. There weren't really great opportunities to do laundry during a covert mission.

Doris rowed rhythmically, towards the shimmer of the Atlantic horizon. The water looked like a shiny blanket, tinged with red like the Atlantic was taking on the energy of the moon that night. Thalia heard quick breathing and shuffling. She looked up to see the strangest sight of the night; Miranda Gardiner trembling and Clarisse comforting her. Miranda's head was bowed, and she shook like she had just been rescued from the water.

Thalia made eye contact with Clarisse, who sneered at her momentarily before looking away.

"There, there, girlie," Clarisse said to Miranda in a surprisingly delicate tone. "You don't have to go near it if you don't want to."

Thalia looked around, but she couldn't see anything around them. There were just waves of saltwater, coursing and crashing around them. "Hey, Miranda. You okay there?"

Clarisse glared at her, but Miranda patted the daughter of Ares on the shoulder reassuringly.

"I'm okay," she sniffed. "I just…we're close."

Once again, Thalia looked around, but nothing had changed in the last ten seconds. "We're close to…Nero? Do you see something I don't?"

Miranda shook her head and hugged her legs to her chest. It was an odd sight to see someone armed to the teeth with knives and swords curled up in a ball of emotion. "I can just feel it."

Clarisse was about to pull Miranda back into a hug, but Miranda rejected it with a head shake.

"Tell her," Miranda said.

Clarisse kept her arms out. "You sure?"

Miranda nodded and wiped her tears away.

Clarisse straightened up and spread out her legs. "Okay…Miranda was the senior counselor of Cabin Four."

"Demeter's Cabin," Thalia filled in. Thalia was impressed; Cabin Four was a formidable force. It was one of the cabins that Thalia wished she was a part of rather than being in the only demigod in Cabin One. Granted, she had her sleeping bag and a few crinkled pictures of Luke and Annabeth to keep her company, but it wasn't the same.

Demeter's cabin, however, was always a cohesive, sharp unit; a family. Sometimes, they would tend their gardens together, and other times, they would explore new poisons they could use against others.

"Nice," Thalia nodded to Miranda.

Miranda raised her eyebrows and Clarisse rolled her eyes in response.

"Right," Clarisse confirmed. Her eyes narrowed and flitted from side to side, as if she was being watched. She spoke slowly, like every word was brutally calculated. "She was one of the demigods who were taken."

Thalia felt like the shipyard worker; slow and oblivious. "Taken…by who?"

"By _what,_" Clarisse corrected. "Miranda was taken by Nero months ago. The slimy, no-good, cowardly monster didn't treat his prisoners too well."

Thalia throat got tight. When she was with the Hunters, she had heard about the few demigods taken by Nero, the infamous god-emperor. The Hunters would have responded to the call to save them if they weren't scrambling to contain the Hydra over those days.

"He _hurt _me," Miranda whispered. "In…every way he could think of. And he got creative. If I was wincing, he'd find a way to make me scream. If I was screaming, he would find a way to shut me up. He found every way to hurt me."

She looked at Thalia meaningfully. "Every way."

Thalia saw the eyes of a survivor- someone who somehow found the strength and resilience to hang on to this world, even if by a thread so thin that it was invisible. She had seen those same eyes in the women in short dresses that walked the winter streets; the same ones that gave Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth the money they earned that night despite knowing the consequences that would come of it. Those women protected Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth from finding themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time…with the wrong _people_.

"And when Miranda decided to fight back against Nero and plan an escape-" Clarisse started.

"-Nero crucified me. At least, that's what he calls it. He said the only people who get crucified are the weak. So, he decided to put us all on stakes."

A brutal image flashed through Thalia's mind. She remembered hearing about demigods wrapped in dirty white cloth and hanging from stakes, waiting to meet a fiery end. Now, here she was- staring at one of those half-bloods in the eye.

"He _tried _to. But Miranda got away."

"How?" Thalia hated how her voice shook. She was angry, but this wasn't about her. It was about Miranda.

Miranda took out a sword from her back. "Apollo saved me. Along with some brave dryads."

Thalia wrinkled her nose. _That _was a twist she didn't see coming. Not the dryads, because they were always brave spirits that fought for demigods. But Apollo was the surprise.

Apollo had found himself in a strange position, where he was forced to be mortal at the hands of their father. Now that he was like the rest of the humans he looked down upon, Thalia had heard that Apollo was slowly, but surely, turning into a hero.

She remembered how arrogant he was back when he was immortal, and how different he seemed now. Back then, she saw some humor in it. Now, though, she wondered, however, how selfless these acts truly were. Were they because they were the right thing to do? Or only for him to reclaim godhood?

"To this day, I fight for them and the other half-bloods that have met that fate," Miranda said as she looked past Thalia and out to sea. "Including the Amazons that are on that ship now."

Thalia nodded. "We will honor the fallen, Gardiner. And, we will save those in need. I promise."

Miranda gave Thalia a curt nod as she put up her face mask. It covered the bottom half of her face so Thalia could no longer see the streaks of tears. Now, she only saw the pine green eyes of a fighter. They were focused, trained on something large behind Thalia.

Clarisse stood up. "Good. Because we're here."

Thalia turned around and saw a shining white skyscraper of a ship, now taking on a blood red hue from the moonlight. The ship was at least five decks tall. There were also large golden letters carved on the bow of the ship that read, _The Queen Cassiopeia. _The title was below a masthead of a fierce-looking, beautiful woman holding up a mirror to herself while her foot was on another woman's head. Below the title read, _Sponsored by N.H. Financials. _

There was a dark purple submarine that was secured in a harness attached to the starboard. Lining the lower decks were residential rooms with tinted black windows. Despite the tint, Thalia could see the silhouettes of people dancing and moving within the rooms.

On the second level from the top lay helicopters and other cages, guarded by figures too far away for Thalia to quite make out.

The top level was a little too far to see due to the sheer height of the ship, but she could see small satellite dishes, radar antennae, and a purple flag embroidered with a golden triangle hanging off the top.

Thalia figured that that was the insignia of the Triumvirate Holdings.

On the perimeter of the top level of the ship were ten large cannons, spread out from one another and manned by a few humans.

The faint _thump _of bass and music filled the air.

"Is that-" Thalia started. "How did-"

"This is Nero's pleasure ship," Lulu said. "The new and improved _Princess Andromeda._"

"Nero's properties are almost like 3-D images," Miranda explained. Thalia watched _The Queen Cassiopeia _get larger in Miranda's eyes. "You look at them from the wrong angle, and they're shrouded from your vision. Once you look at it in the right direction, though, it takes over your entire line of vision."

"And yeah," Clarisse said. "The woman on the masthead is supposed to be Cassiopeia. With her foot on Aphrodite's head."

Thalia took another look. The depiction of Cassiopeia looked haughty, like she believed she was the more beautiful than the goddess of love herself.

If Thalia squinted, she could see gargantuan black owls flying around the ship. In the moonlight, Thalia could see flashes of their red claws and golden beaks.

"Cannons…and Strixes. Great," Thalia muttered. They weren't the scariest monsters Thalia has ever seen, but she would take Stymphalian Birds over Strixes at any point in time. They were like airborne Hydras, gaining power and numbers each time one of them died.

Doris stood and used one of the oars to tap onto the hull of the rowboat. In unison, the other rowboats full of Primes began to sail towards their own. In a few minutes, the rowboats were lined up with one another, still in the water.

Thalia concentrated and imagined waves. She then snapped and attempted to cover the Amazons' rowboats in the thickest layer of Mist she could possibly create.

Clarisse watched Thalia until the latter trained her attention on the group. Clarisse then grunted and regarded the Primes. "All right. This is it. Nero's little pleasure play pen."

Lulu from the other rowboat thumped her chest. "Shall we crash this party?"

Doris smiled. "Let's."

Clarisse held her hands up. "Easy. I like where your head is at, but we have to approach this carefully."

Thalia kept her eyes on the decks. A few Laistrygonian Giants lingered on the edges of the top decks, looking out into the seas. Luckily, their eyesight didn't seem to be strong enough to catch the Primes' boats.

"Clarisse is right," Thalia whispered. "One wrong move and Nero is flying away in one of those many helicopters."

Miranda sheathed her sword on her back so it made an _X _with her other longsword. "I say we go in through the rooms that almost look like residences. We find a way to break that window and get to the top floor carefully."

Thalia nodded. Almost unconsciously, she and all the Primes looked at Clarisse.

Clarisse nodded. "We don't have too many other ideas."

Thalia reached down and held up Annabeth's cap. "We also can be invisible."

Clarisse grabbed it and examined it. "Does this work on multiple people?"

Thalia shook her head. "Just one."

"All right. Thalia, hold on to this."

"Actually," Thalia interrupted. She took the hat and looked at the _NY. _

"Miranda. Take this cap. Put it on."

Miranda hesitated for a beat, and then put it on. Once she did, she disappeared from view, prompting gasps from the Primes.

"This way," Thalia said, looking at the now seemingly empty space that used to be Miranda. "If this mission goes left and we get caught, Miranda can make a safe escape."

Miranda reappeared, holding the hat. "I will _not _leave you all there."

"Yes, you will," Thalia and Clarisse said in unison. They stared Miranda down, but she met their glares with her own.

"We can't lose you again," Clarisse said. "Miranda, your job is to get the Primes. We'll cover you."

Thalia leaned in towards Miranda and lowered her voice. "Nero will never know you were on the ship."

Miranda took a shaky breath and put on the hat once more.

"Should we talk about a potential distraction?" Thalia offered.

Clarisse huffed. "This is a _stealth _mission, girlie. Not the Camp Half-Blood clown crew. We're trying to get in and get out."

"And if that doesn't work?"

Clarisse stepped closer to Thalia. "Then we'll take up our roles. We'll die without connection to the Amazons. That's what we signed up for, isn't it, girls?"

The Primes beat their chest with one fist.

"That's not what you signed up for," Thalia argued. "You all signed up to save these Amazons. We don't sacrifice lives just for the mission. We try to walk out of there with all of us alive and in one piece."

Clarisse spit in the water. "Maybe that's how the Hunters did it," she said, venom dripping from each word. "But we're willing to do what it takes."

Thalia and Clarisse stared one another down until Miranda cleared her throat.

"We may need to hustle up before we bump into the ship," Miranda suggested through a disembodied voice.

A Prime named Deonna asked, "How do we handle the Strixes?"

Thalia reached for her spear and looked over the rowboat into the water.

She tuned out the noise and listened to the life in the water. Eventually, she heard frantic, uncontrolled movement coming her way. When it got close enough, Thalia let her arms thrust the spear into the water. She pulled her spear out of the water to reveal a large silver fish stuck to the end of it.

"Let's go fishing."

In a flurry, the Primes followed Thalia's lead. Within a few minutes, three of the four rowboats were full of fish.

"Does anyone have any poison," Thalia asked.

"Here," Lulu said.

Thalia took the poison. "I need water as well. Miranda, can I use yours?"

A bottle of water floated over to her.

Thalia held the water up to the moon, and concentrated. She had only done this a few times, but she needed it to work this time. If it did, she would have a way to get the Strixes over to the poisoned fish. It wouldn't kill them, which would save them from the headache of watching more appear. But it would subdue them, at least for a few hours.

As she concentrated, nothing was happening. Thalia focused some more and concentrated harder; it was probably going to be harder without Artemis' blessing.

Yet, as she put more effort into the concentration, she felt the humidity in the air start to collect around the bottle. The clouds parted slightly to reveal a column of moonlight that led straight to the bottle. In the moonlight was the humidity condensing to the point of visibility.

As she continued to concentrate, she saw the moonlight and moisture swirl together and squeeze out glowing silver drops that fell into the bottle. The water in the bottle took on a silver tint and gleamed slightly.

Thalia held it up. She felt triumphant, like she had just given Artemis a middle finger by being able to create it by herself.

Doris' mouth hung agape. "Moonwater. I've…I've never seen it done before."

"Oh, Hylla's never taught you?" Thalia said. She couldn't contain the smugness in her voice; the ability to create moonwater was a tactic reserved only for Hunters. Not even her leaving the Hunters could have taken that away from her. It was just a fact; Hunters were better than Amazons. At least, when Thalia was with them and when the Hunters worked as a team.

Doris shook her head in disbelief. Thalia nearly had to force her to take the bottle to her. "Have a sip. Everyone have a sip before I throw this on the piles of fish. Lulu, once you take a sip, take the other boat and row it to Nero's ship.

The bottle went around until it get back to Thalia.

Thalia frowned. The bottle was nearly gone. She didn't realize that these women were this thirsty.

The good news was that Doris' rowboat was already at the ship.

"And what is this supposed to do," Clarisse asked, wiping her mouth. Even as she talked, she sounded more energized and in a better mood.

"Animals pick and choose their prey. Moonwater, however, has a certain shine to it that attracts animals. It's like there's something in their DNA that inclines them to be attracted to moonwater."

Thalia carefully stepped through the rowboats and poured the entirety of the poison over the fish. "Hopefully," she continued. "Strixes also have that in their DNA. Everyone, hop out and swim towards Doris."

The Primes hopped out of the boat. The sudden shift of weight almost capsized the rowboats, but, thankfully, they stayed upright.

Thalia then doubled back and flung the rest of the moonwater onto the fish, as if she was blessing them. Almost immediately, Thalia heard the passionate beat of wings heading towards the boats direction.

"Thalia! Get out now!" Clarisse yelled. "Those fish won't be there for too long."

Thalia hopped out the boat and submerged in the Atlantic. She swam a little deeper than needed, to minimize the chance that one of the Strixes decided to go for her as an appetizer. She re-emerged by Doris' boat. Thalia and the Primes then tossed hooks into the side of the ship and began to climb.

Thalia heard the Strixes viciously attacking the pile of fish, and heard the _clunk _of each one of the Strixes' unconscious bodies hitting the decks of the rowboats.

Doris and Lulu rappelled up to the nearest window and used the heads of their arrows to carve a deep circle into one of the tinted windows on the lowest deck. Thalia watched as they moved out the way for Clarisse. Clarisse climbed up so she was facing the window. She then reared her head back and knocked the window out of its frame with a headbutt for the ages.

Thalia, Clarisse, and the rest of the Primes slunk into the room. It was a fairly nice room, all things considered; purple linen sheets, a golden rug, marble & granite finishing, and a hotel-style bathroom. The air conditioner hummed all throughout the room, like it was ingrained in the walls and the floors.

All her senses went haywire as a baseball bat flew at her head. Thalia ducked and gave the attacker a gut punch. She then took the baseball bat and hit the individual upside their head with a definitive _crack. _The person went down, and Thalia turned the body over. She was looking in the face of a human woman in a bathrobe. Thalia looked up to see a guy in his early thirties, cowering in the corner of the room. His toupee flew off his head, revealing a badly receding hairline.

Clarisse looked at the guy and gestured to the unconscious body of the woman. "Really, dude?"

The guy tried to make a break for it, but Thalia had already blocked his exit. Within seconds, the room was full of twenty Amazonian assassins, surrounding the guy in his corner.

Clarisse made her way to the front of the group to intimidate him some more.

Thalia, in contrast, lingered towards the back. She felt like there was someone…or some_thing _else watching them in this room.

Thalia heard Clarisse say, "You want to tell us how to get to Nero?"

"Fuck you," he said. "Our lord Nero throws the best damn parties out there."

Thalia heard two hits; one was Clarisse's punch and the second was the guy hitting the ground. Clarisse cursed while Thalia crept towards the queen-size bed in the room. There was something coming from that direction that had her senses activated.

Thalia brandished her spear and aimed it towards the bed. A tiny whimpering sound came from underneath the mattress.

Thalia made a clicking sound with her teeth, and a few of the Primes surrounded the bed.

Thalia silently counted to three and tore the bed on its side to reveal the room's last secret; a younger woman of about sixteen. She wore a tight, dark purple dress. She had bruises all over her arms and legs. She was _much _too old to be the daughter of the couple they had knocked out and much too young to be in their bedroom at midnight for any other reason.

The girl was cowering in the fetal position until she realized that her cover had been blown. She slowly looked up to see Thalia and the Primes standing above her. The girl made eye contact with Thalia's spear and began to scream.

"No! Please…stop," Thalia pleaded.

Thalia thought about knocking her out to suppress the screams. However, she thought about an old friend, and the advice he gave her years ago. She decided to take another approach.

Thalia put the spear down slowly, and kicked it behind her so it rolled near Clarisse. Thalia took a knee and looked at the girl.

"Hi. I'm Thalia."

The girl was still terrified. Snot was sprinting down her nose, and her tears had dried in crusty trails on her face. She still looked absolutely panicked, but her eyes were frantically searching Thalia's for some indication of her intentions.

"What's your name," Thalia asked slowly.

The girl breathed and started crying.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Clarisse said. Thalia heard Clarisse scoop up what sounded like Thalia's spear and make her way to the girl. Thalia put her hand behind her and put her other hand out to the girl.

"Hey. I know this is scary. But we are here to rescue some people from him."

Based on the girl's microexpressions, Thalia didn't need to elaborate who _him _was. She already knew.

"Help us save one of our own," Thalia said. She swore she could hear a seven-year-old Annabeth's voice crying, _No more monsters! _

The girl returned to a more normal breathing pattern. It was still slightly erratic, but she was at least getting some oxygen.

"No more monsters," Thalia whispered.

The girl nodded. "No more monsters," she said, in a hoarse, breathy whisper.

"Look, we know how cruel Nero is," Thalia said.

The girl got the panicked look in her eye again, like she was going to start screaming once more. "He'll kill me," she whispered.

Miranda appeared out of thin air. It scared Clarisse and Thalia, but the girl was curiously unaffected by the sudden reveal.

"I was held here," Miranda said. "By Nero. Just like you."

The girl's lips parted and her mouth made an _o. _"You were like me."

"Just like you. I know this is scary. I know what Nero is capable of. But sometimes," Miranda said as she squatted down. "Sometimes death isn't the worst outcome."

The girl's mouth closed and she looked to the broken window.

"Tell us where he is," Clarisse said, through gritted teeth.

"Top floor," the girl wheezed. "In the pool."

Miranda nodded. "Brave girl."

Thalia helped her up. "Look. You see these hooks and lines we used to get up here? Use those to take yourself down to the boat out there. Steer clear of the boats with the fish and Strixes-"

"The huge owls," Miranda translated.

"-and row yourself to safety. It'll take you a little bit, but we'll come find you afterwards. You won't have to row across the Atlantic Ocean alone."

The girl stared at Thalia wordlessly.

"GO!" Miranda barked. That seemed to spur the girl into action; she expertly leapt through the window and rappelled herself down the ship.

"That was a close one," Deonna pointed out. "Her screaming worried me."

"What worries me more is that no one came to investigate the screams," Clarisse said, more to herself than anyone. She turned off the light in the room. "Let's get to the top deck. That's where he's probably holding them."

"He wouldn't leave them out his sight," Thalia agreed.

Thalia and Clarisse poked their heads out into the hall. The hall was lined with velvet and candles, like the fanciest level in the Labyrinth.

To their right was a sleeping Laistrygonian giant who took up the entire hallway.

To their left were the sounds of two sets of armor clinking towards the corner. Thalia and Clarisse saw a glimpse of two seven-foot tall guards in Roman battle armor round the corner before they folded their heads back into the room.

"Cover," Clarisse hissed to the Primes.

Thalia watched as the Primes all scrambled around the room, finding unlikely hiding spots behind the upturned bed, in the closet, on the ceiling, and even hanging behind the door. Thalia felt the footsteps getting closer. She was panicking; she couldn't find anything that was a good enough hiding spot, though.

The last thing Thalia felt before seeing the guards come into the room was a flutter on her head, like the world's biggest dragonfly had just landed on her hair.

The huge bodyguards filled the doorway. "Oi, big guy."

Thalia heard the Laistrygonian stir.

"Come cover us while we look. Yes, I'm talking to you."

The guards walked into the room. They stepped right past Thalia and observed the carnage in the room. They surveyed the ransacked room, as well as the unconscious bodies of the couple that was in here.

"What in Nero happened here," one of them said to the other.

"Dunno. Must tell hero."

"It's _Nero, _Mike. _Nero,_" the first one corrected.

Thalia rolled over to them and made the German hand symbol for _Drei; _her index and ring finger extended, as well as her thumb. She then channeled small bolts of blue-purplish static electricity between her thumb and her two fingers. She mirrored the gesture with her other hand. The electricity surged between her fingers like lasers before she touched the two guards' exposed backs with them.

As the electricity made contact with their backs, Thalia watched as their muscles contracted, and then relaxed to the point that they slumped to the ground.

Thalia heard the Laistrygonian mutter, "Hey…" before she unsheathed Annabeth's knife and launched it in a golden streak straight through his throat. The dagger embedded itself soundlessly in the velvet walls, splattering dark blue blood over the candles and decorations. The giant fell as well, clutching his throat with a look of pure confusion. The giant then exploded into golden dust.

Thalia reached to her head and took off Annabeth's cap. She looked up to see Miranda give her a thumbs up from the ceiling.

The Primes came out from their various hiding spots. Clarisse came out from behind the door. "Not bad, girlie. How you all ever lost a fight with that hat, I will never know."

Thalia stepped into the hallway and retrieved Annabeth's knife. She beckoned towards the giant. "A little help here?"

Together, Thalia, Doris, and Lulu dragged the giant into the room. The Primes filtered into the hallway, and Miranda closed the door behind her.

As much as Thalia wanted to give a game plan, she knew that she was not the leader of this group. This wasn't the Hunters.

She cleared her throat. "What's the plan, Clarisse?"

Clarisse regarded Thalia warily, like she was trying to figure out how this was an insult. However, she seemed to give up and nod begrudgingly. "Okay. Let's find our way to at least the third floor. From there, we'll get to the second and then the first. Doris and Lulu, put on those guard outfits that the Germani have on."

Doris and Lulu slipped the breastplates and armor on.

"The Germani?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah. Some Triumvirate leaders like them as bodyguards. Think of the Spartans, if they were mixed with the Terminator," Clarisse explained.

Thalia did _not _want to think of that image.

Clarisse pointed towards Doris and Lulu. "All right. You all will act like you're taking Thalia to Nero. Miranda, you'll use the hat to take out whoever we need to. The rest of us will linger behind the corners, or will come through the other sides in case you all need backup."

Thalia didn't know why _she _had to be the one that was captured. Nevertheless, she handed Miranda the hat. The daughter of Demeter nodded at Clarisse and disappeared from view.

"Let's go to work," Clarisse said.

Doris and Lulu took Thalia by the arm and led her down the hall in the direction that the Germani guards came from. As they turned the corner, they found two human demigods walking through the halls and holding shortswords. They noticed Doris and Lulu, as well as Thalia in the center of them.

One of them stepped up to Thalia, a gangly twenty-year-old kid with acne that made him look like a Nestle crunch bar. "And who do we have here? Were you being a bad gi-"

One long, slender pin sliced through his neck while two embedded themselves in the eyes of the demigod behind him.

Thalia watched them fall soundlessly on the velvet floors.

"Dumbasses," Thalia muttered.

They continued through the fourth level. They found a large spiral of stairs that ran to the third level. The stairs, however, were flanked by two more Germani. They stood well over seven feet, and scowled at Doris and Lulu's armor.

"Mike. Your armor looks big," one of them said. The other growled suspiciously.

Doris cleared her throat. "No. I lose weight," she said in a faux deep voice.

The Germani guards nodded in understanding and let them pass. Thalia heard one guard whispering to his partner about keto diets and whole foods.

Though Doris, Lulu, and Thalia passed by the guards unharmed, Thalia flinched when she heard two slices and the thumps of the bodies falling behind her.

_For Annabeth, _she kept telling herself. _For Annabeth. _

The crew killed their way through the third floor in a similar fashion. By the time they got to the stairwell to the second floor, Miranda was out of throwing pins and her knives were dripping with blood. Before they went up to the second, Thalia stopped Doris and Lulu. "Hey. Everyone. Come here!"

The Primes emerged from the corners, shadows, and ceilings.

"No more killing, please," Thalia said. "If we get past them with no issues, we don't need to kill them."

Clarisse frowned. "We're covering our tracks. Sometimes, you need to kill."

"They don't suspect anything, so there's nothing quite to cover. Can we do that?"

The Primes grumbled in reluctant agreement. They made their way up to the second floor, which looked to be a hallway made of marble instead of velvet. Rather than candles illuminating it, there were more traditional circular lights placed down the ceiling of the hall like buttons on a dress shirt. The air smelled of perfume, sweat, and another smell that was actually unfamiliar to Thalia. The unfamiliar smell was like a scent cocktail of fur, alcohol, and ear wax. It was a strange concoction, to say the least.

Thalia was surprised to see that there were no guards patrolling this area. She and the Primes walked peacefully for about ten seconds until they turned the corner to see something Thalia had never seen before.

It was a monkey behind a booth. More accurately, it was a large monkey-human hybrid with black fur and ears the size of an elephant. The ears looked to be human ears, covered lightly in a coat of fuzz and hair. It had eight fingers and long arms that looked more human than primate. It held a double-edged sword with a blunt end and a serrated body.

It was wearing a uniform much too small for it, and it held the kind of stamp they use to give kids at amusement parks if they were leaving and wanted to come back into the park.

"Tickets, please?" the creature asked.

In a symphony of knife scrapes, equipment clangs, and movement, Thalia and the Primes all brandished weapons and pointed them at the creature.

The creature turned to them and gave a brilliant smile of beautiful human teeth. It was an odd combination, and Thalia's mind was having so much trouble processing it that she felt like she was looking through a particularly strong layer of Mist.

"Assassins. Female assassins! Perhaps...Hunters?"

The creature paused. His voice was gleeful, like he had been waiting for this moment all his life. He didn't blink, either, and his dark eyes shifted between them. His ears moved slowly in a circle.

"No, not Hunters. Perhaps…followers of Kālī?"

Thalia loosened her fingers around her spear. The creature didn't seem to be tensed at all. It was as if he wasn't expecting a fight. However, Thalia knew better; monsters with this kind of approach usually had a trick up their sleeve that put them in an advantageous position.

"No…" the creature mused. "Amazons, perhaps?"

"What do you want with us?" Clarisse demanded.

"Ooh," the creature sat up. "So, you are Amazons. Female warriors. Led by…Thalia, daughter of Zeus."

Thalia stiffened and tried to stop her jaw from clenching.

"Her? Oh, no. I'm the leader here," Clarisse said.

The creature's ears turned towards Clarisse, like he was catching the words that spilled out her mouth. "Ah, insecurity!"

"Excuse me?" Clarisse growled.

"Oh, little Ares. We Pandai hear every nuance in speech! I hear…a power struggle between the assigned leader…"

The Pandai individual turned to Thalia. "…and a newcomer, yes?"

"I'm sorry," Miranda said. "Did you say you were a panda?"

"Yeah," Thalia jumped in. "That's what I heard."

The Primes began muttering in agreement.

"Have you seen Kung Fu Panda?" Doris asked.

"Only $4.99 to rent on !" Lulu advertised.

"Enough!" the creature wailed, throwing its arms on the ground like a toddler. "I am a _Pandos. _Not a panda! Do I look like…well, never mind. Who said that first? I heard you, but I couldn't see you."

"You don't seem too nervous about having between twenty to forty weapons pointed towards you, _Pandos,_" Thalia pointed out, ignoring his search for Miranda. "Why is that?"

Once again, the _Pandos' _ear turned towards Thalia. "You are trying to get information out of me. You are scared that it won't work. Perhaps the girl has an invisible friend. That's where the voice came from!"

It was creepy how this individual could discern her meaning from her words. No matter how neutral Thalia tried to keep her words, she figured that there was still a vulnerability that came with speech.

"Fine," Thalia said. "You want to be blunt? I'm here on a rescue mission."

Doris and Lulu rolled past the _Pandos _in a flash and put their swords at his throat.

Thalia swung down with her spear to disarm the _Pandos _of his weapon.

Clarisse picked it up and examined it. "This is a _khandas. _You're Indian?"

The ears shifted to Clarisse as much as they could while being blocked by Doris and Lulu. "Do I detect a whiff of admiration in your voice? Yes, girl, this is a _khandas. _From the heart of the Indian subcontinent."

"This world keeps getting bigger and bigger," Thalia muttered.

"Regardless, we have you surrounded. If you don't let us through, we'll have to kill you and let ourselves up," Thalia said. She meant it too; she didn't have time to be playing games with this individual. There were women up on the top deck that needed to be liberated, as soon as possible.

The _Pandos _used his ears to tune into her voice. He took a beat to register what she had said. Apparently, he believed her threat, because he said, "No matter. If you kill me, my brothers upstairs will hear me with our divine auditory blessings."

"You have brothers upstairs?" Miranda asked.

"I guess they're all Dumbos like you," Clarisse said, rolling her eyes.

The _Pandos _looked at Clarisse, and back to Thalia. "I can let you up…if you're here for the party."

Thalia put the spear on the _Pandos' _furry nose. "I'm here…to save some people from Nero."

The _Pandos _laughed dryly. "You don't want to do this, Daughter of Zeus. You, your crew, and your invisible friend won't be able to get past me."

"No, _you _don't want to do this. You think that Zeus will be merciful to you if his favorite daughter is hurt?"

The _Pandos _looked from side to side anxiously. "From your tone, it seems like not even you are sure."

"I'm not. That's why I'm asking you what _you _think."

The _Pandos _cleared his throat. "If you…if you save your friends, you're going to have to kill Nero. He doesn't like his property being taken away."

"That's fine."

"So if you kill him, what happens to us?"

That was a good question. Thalia didn't really think about what happened if she actually killed Nero. This was originally a rescue mission, but now it seemed like this was more of an assassination. However, she couldn't bluff because he would hear straight through it. He would be the worst to play against in poker.

"I don't know what happens to you all," Thalia admitted. "But maybe I'll be a little more merciful if you let us through."

The _Pandos _was silent for a few seconds. Then, slowly, he sounded out, "Maybe I…would be willing to let you up."

Thalia nodded encouragingly. "Good choice."

"But you must disrobe."

Thalia stopped nodding. "Excuse me?"

"You must take off your clothes. All of you."

"Why is this?" Doris asked behind him.

"This is a party of Nero's. Full of hedonism, drugs, and pleasure. It is in our guests' contracts that every female species must be without clothes once the sun goes down. And that Nero, N.H. Financials, and the Triumvirate Holdings are not legally responsible for anything that happens at this party."

"We're not guests," Clarisse countered.

"Oh, but you must be," the _Pandos _said. "You must come under the pretense of being guests. Otherwise, you will stick out like a baby _Pandos _in an American zoo."

Thalia scowled.

"Well," Miranda said, reappearing and looking at Clarisse. "I guess we have no choice."

The _Pandos' _eyes widened in recognition. "There you are. You were invisible!"

Clarisse raised an eyebrow. "Yeah," she said. "I guess we have to do it."

Thalia couldn't read what Clarisse meant by that. "Wait, what?"

"Doris? Lulu?" Clarisse asked.

Doris and Lulu's swords were silver arcs of pain as they, in unison, sliced off the _Pandos' _ears. The _Pandos _gave an inhuman scream of pain until Miranda and Clarisse tackled him and stabbed him in the face multiple times.

Thalia's heart dropped. "What are you all doing?"

Miranda winked and tossed Thalia the hat. "Creating a distraction."

Thalia ran her fingers along the brim. "But the hat?"

Miranda beheaded the _Pandos. _"I want Nero to see me doing this."

"Go," Clarisse said to Thalia. "You'll know when it's time."

Together, the Primes took their positions. Some went right up to the ceiling while others took cover behind the tickets booth. Some lay their body flat against the walls, waiting for the reinforcements to come down the stairs.

Thalia put the hat on, and hustled upstairs. As she was doing so, several _Pandai, _Germani, and male demigods were running down the stairs at the same time. They were covering the entire width of the stairs, so Thalia couldn't quite get past them. If she went back downstairs and timed it incorrectly, though, she may be politely met with a slash across the throat from one of the Primes attempting to get at the guards.

Thalia took a breath and used the railing to execute a gymnast's flip to swing herself around most of them and back onto the stairs.

Thalia silently celebrated.

She then she leapt above the rest until she landed on the top floor. Unfortunately, she was not as agile as she was when she was a Hunter.

Thalia silently cursed.

She lost her balance and tumbled down the stairs, crashing into one of the demigods who bumped into another demigod, who hit another Germani. It was falling dominoes, as the reinforcements all began tripping and falling down the stairs.

Thalia caught herself, and was able to secure her position while the falling continued. The demigod she had bumped into caught himself as well and looked up towards her direction, but he was grabbed by another and pulled downstairs.

Thalia rushed upstairs to a cacophony of slicing, cracking bones, and screams.

As Thalia slipped onto the top deck, she walked into the biggest party she had ever seen, second only to Olympus. Taking up most of the deck was the largest pool in the world. It must have been the size of a football field.

Sure enough, countless naked Scythian Dracaena, nymphs, demigods, and mortal women splashed around in the glowing, steaming blue water. Some red-skinned women patrolled the bars around the pool, like vendors at a major league baseball game. They were handing out substances, powders, and other things to support the good time. It smelled of alcohol, vomit, and bad cologne.

Music from the Billboard Hot 100 floated in the air, and the bass punched Thalia repeatedly until her heartbeat began to sync up with the beat drops. Occasionally, the songs would be remixed with old-school classical music, the type of music that sounded like it would be played by Beethoven at dinner parties. Somehow, though, the people in the pool kept dancing as if the music had never stopped.

Thalia saw the Triumvirate Holdings penant flapping in victory as if it was condoning all the sin and regret that was happening at the party.

Five demigods manned the five cannons. Between those demigods were several archers that were pointed out towards the sea. As Thalia covertly passed by them, she saw one cannon guy and one archer guy laughing. They were cackling and pointing at the Strixes eating from the rowboats and passing out.

"Hey," the cannon demigod said with a frown, pointing out to the water. "Who is that?"

They were pointing at the girl from the bedroom, who was rowing away to freedom.

The nearest demigod archer squinted and used binoculars. "I think that's someone trying to escape!"

"Should we shoot her?"

Thalia silently rolled over to the cannon demigod and used her static electricity to taze him. She saw as her static overtook the electrical signals in his brain, turning his body into mush. The demigod slumped over, and Thalia had to catch him from sliding off his seat.

"Nah," the archer demigod judged. "Let her run. She won't get too far anyway, right, Eli?"

Thalia watched him turn to Eli, who was slumped over in his cannon chair. Thalia cleared her throat and made snoring noises.

The demigod shook his head. "Are you asleep? Dude?"

Thalia moved the body a little as if the unconscious demigod was shifting in his sleep.

The demigod shook his head. "Your funeral, dude."

Thalia crept through the rest of the party, and finally getting a glimpse of Nero.

He looked to be a rough forty, like he was barely holding himself together. His belly was so large that it was visible even through the water. His brown hair was messy and greasy, wrapping around his chin to create a chinstrap beard. He didn't even seem to have a chin. He was wearing a few golden chains, and no bathing suit in the water. Nymphs swam around under him, servicing him in a number of ways.

Thalia fought the urge to throw up. It was like Nero was trying to continuously relive his glory days after nearly two thousand years of life. If this was what life was back then, Thalia was glad she was born in this time.

Nero was surrounded by Germani guards and one _Pandos, _who was rubbing his shoulders. The creature's ears were on a swivel, but his face was deadened of any kind of expression. Occasionally, the _Pandos _would whisper in Nero's ear and Nero would sneer towards the stairwell. When he did that, the Germani guards would say something in their earpieces, and leagues of reinforcements would bleed towards the stairwell.

Thalia's heart leapt into her chest.

Of course, their friend downstairs had brothers that could probably hear their entire conversation. Perhaps the _Pandos _could hear everything they were planning outside on the water.

Regardless, one terrible truth was clear.

Nero had been expecting them.

* * *

Suddenly, the music stopped. All of the visitors turned to Nero, who stood in his full nude glory.

"Well, look what we have here! Amazons!" His voice somehow carried throughout the _Queen Cassiopeia. _

Thalia watched in horror as the Primes were brought out in a few glowing red nets. A few Laistrygonians dragged the nets out to the side of the pool, and emptied them onto the wet poolside. Thalia saw another net full of their weapons get dropped on the other side of the pool.

"Seems like my trap was more than effective," Nero celebrated gleefully.

The Primes were kicked onto their knees, lined up in a line parallel to the length of the pool. They were each facing the water so it looked like they were all about to get dunked in. Some of the Primes' armor were burned, while some was missing their armor completely. Their masks were dented and cracked, and they stared at the water.

Nero waddled over to the line of Primes, and ran his finger along their hair. "Hylla's little lapdogs. It's nice to finally meet you. You all have caused me and my business…some pretty inconvenient hiccups. But we're okay," he said as he lightly pushed Doris' head.

"We're okay," Nero repeated as he stopped behind Miranda.

He removed her mask, turned her towards him, and cupped her chin. "Miranda Gardiner. You've come back. And look at you!"

Miranda was craning her neck to be as far away from his naked self as he could, but Nero was holding her head pretty tightly. "Oh, I love those little green eyes. You remember your duties when you were here?"

Miranda spit on him.

The crowd gasped. Some looked away, like they didn't want to see what followed.

Nero didn't flinch, like he was used to it.

He raised his hand and slapped her with an open palm, a sound so strong that it echoed throughout the ship.

"Everyone! Take a good look at this one here. She actually served me for a while. She had the privilege…to serve under me. In more ways than one."

The crowd laughed like they were at a stand-up comedy show.

"I gave her everything," Nero projected. "And yet, here she is. Impetuous, even now, while in the presence of a god."

"They're trying to take this all away from me," he presented. "From _us._ What do we say to that?"

The entire crowd started to boo. Nero put his arms out and laughed at the crowd's reaction.

Thalia noticed a few humanoid women stationed where Nero was previously sitting. They looked extremely emotional, as if they were watching their escape plan go up in flames. Under the pool water, Thalia saw the glow of golden handcuffs binding two women together.

_Those are our hostages, _Thalia thought to herself.

"And now she's back," Nero chided. "Back with her little feminist friends. Here to get back at me, no doubt."

The crowd began to throw things at the Primes; their drinks, their food, their drugs…whatever they had in their possession. Thalia figured they would regret that later.

"Fuck you," Clarisse yelled. "And fuck all of you. You're not a god. You're a coward."

Nero sauntered over to Clarisse. He pointed to Miranda, and two of his Germani guards pointed spears at her.

"You have a big mouth. You just need someone that will teach you proper manners. You're ugly, so I won't quite take you in. A little too _big _for my tastes. But I will teach you a lesson."

He leaned in closer to her. Somehow, Thalia could still hear his voice just as clearly as when he was projecting it. "For I am a merciful god."

Nero then put out one of his disgusting feet towards Clarisse. "Kiss it."

"Are you insane?" Clarisse asked.

"Kiss it," Nero repeated. "Or your friend dies."

Clarisse's defiant attitude wavered. She looked around the area, like she was trying to find Thalia while she was invisible.

"You have three seconds. Three-"

"Clarisse, don't do it!" Miranda yelled.

"-two-"

"Do it! Do it!" the crowd chanted.

"-one-"

_Sometimes, you need to kill. _

In a motion as practiced and fluid as a wave in the ocean, Thalia unsheathed her spear and threw it like a javelin. The spear crackled with electricity through the air, making the air shimmer with heat around it. The spear impaled one of the Germani guards threatening Miranda, liquefying his insides with electricity. The sheer force of the spear forced it through the guard and into the other one, shocking him as well.

"There she is," Nero yelled. He pointed towards Thalia's general direction. "It's the daughter of Zeus. She's invisible. Get me the helicopter and get me out of here!"

"Yeah, run! Run, you coward!" Clarisse called after him.

Nero ran away from Clarisse. A Germani handed him a red robe, and the two took off running down to the second level.

The Amazon captives turned straight towards Thalia's direction. Thalia tried to help them out of the pool, but once the handcuffs breached the water line, it locked like she was tugging at a deadbolt. Thalia tried once more, but there seemed to be a spell placed on it.

Instead, Thalia whipped out Annabeth's knife and cut through the knives while in the water. It was an arduous twenty seconds, but Thalia was eventually able to break the chains. The chains lost their golden glow, and Thalia pulled them out the pool. "Stay close to those Amazons- go!"

Thalia lightly pushed them away, but one of them grabbed her shoulder. "Wait. Thank you...wherever you are. We owe you our lives."

"And our sanity," the other said.

"Don't worry about it," Thalia said, even though she knew they would definitely worry about it. "Just get close to those people as soon as you can. They're with Hylla. And take this."

Thalia took off her Prime outfit and gave it to them. Unfortunately, Thalia only had enough Prime outfitting to cover one of them completely. Consequently, the Amazons had to settle for splitting the Prime outfit in a way that would salvage some of their dignity.

Everyone in the party was frozen. They didn't quite know what to do without Nero, especially since a spear flew out of nowhere. In the now silent party, all eyes were on the naked Amazons taking armor pieces out of thin air and putting them on.

Soon, Thalia heard the _fwump-fwump-fwump _of a helicopter flying out from the second deck level. Thalia watched them change directions and fly over the boat towards the Atlantic horizon.

She felt her anger build and watched as the pathetic Nero fled the scene.

As a last resort, Thalia tried to tap into her mother's presence. Instead, she momentarily felt a chaotic void, rushing towards her and threatening to drown her. Thalia ripped off the hat and inhaled.

"Bring him to me!" Thalia yelled.

The current of anger came from her heart and down her arms. Thalia felt the chaotic void turn into a familiar warmth, like her mother was embracing her. Thalia instinctively shot her arm out towards the helicopter. The warmth and anger flowed down her biceps, into her forearms, and out straight through her palm and fingertips.

A luminescent blast of lightning flew from her hand and struck the helicopter as it flew right above them. The helicopter exploded upon impact with the lightning, and began to tilt on its side as it fell to the ground.

The party members were no longer frozen; in fact, they all ran screaming as the helicopter fell right towards them and into the large pool in a fiery blaze. The helicopter began to sink in the pool water, which, somehow still glowed blue.

Thalia breathed and opened her heart to the air. A strong funnel of wind blew her spear to her hand as she waded into the pool. "Just like fishing," she whispered to herself as she dove underwater.

She tuned out the smells and the ambient noise, and focused on the water around her. Her movements became synchronized, and her muscles relaxed.

It was times like these that she wished she had Percy by her side.

She heard and felt a quick, wriggling movement, like an eel was trying to swim away. With difficulty, Thalia opened her eyes underwater. She saw Nero underwater, trying to swim towards the side of the pool.

Thalia propelled towards him, as quickly as she could. She got closer, but watched as Nero reached the edge. He began to climb out.

Thalia desperately charged her hand with static electricity and sent out a pulse throughout the pool. She felt the energy fry her muscles, but she was able to keep her eyes open.

She watched, however, as it fried Nero. He fell back into the pool in a spread-eagle position, and sank to the bottom of the pool.

Thalia pushed past the bloody limbs of the Germani helicopter pilot and swam to Nero. She grabbed a fistful of his hair, and dragged him to a part of the pool that was shallow enough to be waist-deep for Thalia. She surfaced first, only to see all of Nero's reinforcements surrounding the Primes and the rescued Amazons. The four conscious cannon demigods were pointed towards her.

"Let our lord go!" one of the Germani yelled.

Thalia held up Nero's body in front of her, and put her spear to his throat. "You hurt any of them, and Nero is done for."

The guards and monsters hesitated.

"You're bluffing," one of them yelled out.

Thalia charged her spear and dug it into Nero's neck. Nero woke up immediately, screeching with pain. Golden ichor flowed from the wound.

"Stop!" The guard yelled. "Stop, okay, you're not bluffing!"

Thalia removed the spear and looked at everyone. The cannon demigods shuffled in discomfort and looked at one another. She felt Nero try to kick her, but since his stubby legs were underwater, they weren't doing much damage.

"Now," she announced. "Let those women go, _now._"

"Er…which ones," one of Laistrygonians asked.

Thalia stabbed Nero once more. "ALL OF THEM!"

Nero's staff began shuffling around in panic; Thalia figured no one wanted to be responsible for Nero's continued pain.

Nero began to catch his breath. "Thalia…Thalia, please. Let me go. I know what happened to you. I know about your brother. I know about Luke. I know about Annabeth."

"Stop talking," Thalia seethed. She was so angry that she was starting to see red.

"LET THEM GO!" Thalia screamed.

"No! Vince! Don't let them go. Listen to your god," Nero said.

Vince, a Germani guard, paused, clearly unsure of what to do.

Thalia adjusted Nero so the spear was lined up with his eye. "You want to shut up?"

"Not particularly. Look, Thalia, I know you hate the gods. And I know that means you probably don't like me."

"You're no god," Thalia grumbled.

"Really? Then what is bleeding from my body? Is it regular human blood?"

Thalia looked down. Golden ichor was starting to pollute the water, turning it green around them.

"No," he answered. "It's _ichor. _The blood of the gods. More than enough proof for you. You see, I am the head of the biggest organization in the world. We can help you get revenge against the Olympians."

Thalia's resolve faltered just the slightest.

"Ah, no stabbing? Well, it seems I have your attention," he said. Confidence was starting to creep back into his voice. "We can help you get the power you need. We can protect you. I have use for a strong woman like you."

Thalia looked at Miranda, who was looking back at the two of them.

"What's going on," one of the demigods on the other side of the pool asked.

"Yeah, we can't hear!" another complained.

"Thalia Grace, we can change the world," Nero whispered. "In our image. Isn't that what you want for yourself? I have, at my disposal, monsters and men of every kind. All with good Roman values of sacrifice and hard work. We can get back at the gods. We can get back at Apollo, the traitor to his own blood. We can-"

Thalia stabbed him in the eye once more. His wails made the party guests cringe.

"NOW," Thalia started. "Look at him. Look at your god. This pudgy, pathetic, guy that you all worship. Is this who you follow?"

Some of the guests looked away. The guards began to charge Thalia, but she began to push harder into Nero's eye.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Thalia yelled over Nero's screams. "Look at him. How many people can truly say that he acts like a god?"

The party members remained silent.

"How many people can truly say that he has healed you? Or saved you? Or has demonstrated any kind of godly power?"

Even the guards began to furrow their brows in deep thought.

"What kind of god needs guards? What kind of god leaves his subjects and runs to a helicopter at the first sign of danger?"

Mutters and grumbles began to ripple through the crowd.

"Nero claims to have the power over life and death. But, right now, who seems to hold that power?"

More conversation began to go fly through the crowd.

"YOUUUU-AGHHHHH-FOOLS," Nero yelled. "KILL HE-"

Thalia whipped out Annabeth's dagger and jammed it into his mouth. She found the wriggling eel in his mouth and, with one clean slice, took out his tongue the same way that she and Luke used to do when they skinned dead animals.

Thalia took the severed tongue and held it up.

"Behold. His greatest weapon." As Thalia examined her handiwork, she saw the white-yellow tongue dripping with reddish-golden orange blood rather than the bright golden ichor that initially fell away from him.

Thalia tossed the tongue towards the middle of the pool. Nero weakly reached out to it, but couldn't move from Thalia's grasp.

"How many of you has he mistreated? Show of hands, tentacles, weapons, whatever you got."

Slowly, every hand on the deck went up. Even the Pandai had their primate-like arms up.

"You see, Nero," Thalia whispered in his ear. "This is how you can help me. You're right. You're no different from the gods up there. You're selfish. You're gluttonous. You're a predator. You thrive off the power your name carries, doesn't it? Well look at what you've made."

Nero stared out to the deck of beings with their hands up. Some were scowling, while others looked happy.

Nero began to mumble curses towards Thalia, attempting to call her every unflattering name he could think of. Without a tongue, though, his threats and names were without form.

Thalia used Annabeth's dagger to carve out Nero's other eye. "Don't finish that sentence, will you?"

She then put Nero in a headlock. "I am about to rid the world of this waste of space," she yelled. "For everything that he's done to my friends-"

Miranda and Clarisse nodded to her.

"-as well as to the rest of the world. And, you know what? I'm about to feel satisfied by this."

Looks of fear flashed over the crowd as they watched her speak. "I'm about to feel like I've avenged the ton of death and pain that he's caused. Nero is not a god. He's become…this…from you all's worship. Roman influence is still in the world today, but he's most powerful around you all."

Thalia used one hand to pull Nero out of the water like a bookbag and showed the ship. Nero was still breathing, and she could see his eyes slowly healing.

"Hurt him," she said. "Take back your power for yourselves. Don't give it to him anymore."

At first, no one moved. Everyone seemed too scared.

For a frightening second, Thalia thought that they all were still loyal to Nero. She thought that he would suddenly power up and overwhelm Thalia and her forces.

Then, the two newly freed Amazons walked up. Thalia shot a look at Miranda, who shrugged and gestured towards them.

Thalia brought Nero down to face the Amazons. They hesitated for a moment, as if they were worried that he would suddenly wake up.

Then, the first Amazon took the knife into Nero's chest, crying as she did so. She stabbed him three more times until she gave the dagger to the other. The other took the dagger and stabbed it in Nero's eyes, over and over again. When they returned the dagger to Thalia, it now dripped with orange blood that was slightly redder than the blood that followed his tongue.

He was becoming mortal.

Thalia pointed to Miranda. "Get them out of here," she mouthed.

Miranda nodded and led the Amazons back to the group of Primes in the back corner. As the Amazons left the water, a line started to form. Pretty soon, there was a long line of party guests that snaked around the perimeter of the pool. The guests were wearing varying levels of clothing. The cannon demigods joined the line, as well as the _Pandai. _The line fed into the shallow part of the water that Thalia and Nero were in.

The guests filtered in, took Annabeth's knife, and each took their pick of where they'd like to attack him. They must have been losing their faith in him actively, as well, because his blood steadily took on a dark red tone. It began to stain the water, creating a cloud of blood around Thalia and Nero.

Endless guests took turns stabbing him and relinquishing their faith in him, like a twisted, murderous version of a baptism. Rather than anointing Nero with holy water, they were taking Nero's life force and power away from him with each strike. Nero began to look like a sponge with the amount of knife holes that he was sporting.

His breathing was starting to slow. His eyes were no longer healing.

Finally, Miranda began to walk around the pool to Thalia. It was deathly silent as she arrived at Thalia and waded into the shallow water. Thalia brought Nero down to face Miranda.

Miranda took Annabeth's knife from her and stared at the now blind Nero.

"This is for what you took from me," Miranda hissed. She took her own knives and castrated Nero in one motion, resulting in a strangled groan from Nero. Thalia used Annabeth's dagger to slice his head off. It fell in the ocean like a beach ball.

She took his body by the legs, dragged it out the pool, and threw it over the cannons and off the ship.

Thalia returned to the water, took the head, and held it up. "Behold, your emperor."

The ship erupted in deafening cheers.

Thalia was conflicted. Part of her wanted to throw up, and the other part of her felt like _smiling. _

Instead, she put her hand out for silence. The crowd, to Thalia's surprise, shut up immediately.

Thalia gestured towards the Amazons.

"Half of you, take the submarine back the way we came; from here to the Chesapeake Bay, to James River and back to your base. Take the animals, weapons, and other cargo on this ship. A gift, for Hylla. Meet that woman on the Atlantic as well, and make sure she gets to Hylla. You all may have yourself another recruit."

Ten of the Primes beat their chests and shuffled the newly freed Amazons down the stairs. The remaining ten Primes, including Clarisse, Miranda, Deonna, Doris, Lulu, moved towards Thalia.

Clarisse nodded at Thalia, as if to say, _We're staying with you. _

Clarisse pointed her sword towards Thalia, and the rest of the Primes followed suit. "The Beast is dead, thanks to Thalia!"

The crowd cheered once more.

"And does anyone have objections to your savior taking up leadership?"

No one dared make a sound.

"She will lead us into a new future, free from the oppression of the gods."

People began looking at one another and nodding.

Thalia looked at Clarisse. Now, she _really _felt nauseous. Her heart was fluttering; she didn't kill Nero to take over the Holdings. She killed him to avenge those that needed avenging. She wanted to liberate these people, not rule over them.

Thalia was about to correct her when she heard her mother's voice tattooed on her soul.

"_You've done well, beloved." _

Time seemed to slow.

Thalia turned to her left and saw her mother sitting on the poolside. She wore a pool blouse and a wrist full of bracelets. Her mother gave a genuine smile and nodded at Thalia, like she was watching her daughter swim for the first time.

"_Take it honey_," her mother said.

Thalia wasn't even sure if her mother was really here.

But Thalia couldn't be imagining it. She couldn't be crazy. Her mother was the one that became unhinged.

But now she was better.

"_Shh_," her mother said. "_I was never crazy, Thalia." _

A lump formed in Thalia's throat. Could her mother hear her thoughts?

Beryl nodded. "_I can hear you. I hear you because I'm the only one who understands you._"

Beryl gestured around her. "_Look at all you can do with this at your disposal_."

Thalia wasn't so sure. She never quite imagined that she would make things right by becoming the enemy. She wanted to stop Nero, not _become _him.

"_Power, in itself, is not bad, my love. The corruption of power is what condemns people." _

Thalia couldn't disagree with that. With the Triumvirate Holdings at his disposal, Nero could have done a lot. He could have solved world hunger. He could have created a global defense force. He could have teamed up with other pantheons of gods to create an alliance.

"_Yes. And with this power, think of all you can do for Annabeth. All you can do for your family_."

"For Annabeth," Thalia said softly. "For your family."

"Behold, Thalia, Daughter of Zeus," Clarisse yelled. "The new leader of the Triumvirate Holdings."

The crowd put their hands in a triangle, put it near their chest, and fell to their knees.

Thalia looked up at the starless skies. The large red moon was no longer shrouded by the clouds. Now, it was in full vision, looking down at Thalia with a vengeful gaze. Thalia returned the gaze, standing waist-deep in a pool of blood and surrounded by her new subjects.


	12. Water

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Percy

Percy took a drink as laughter filled the space of the mess hall. Oil lamps jutted out from the walls and ceilings, giving the room a warm, golden ambience. Scents of charcoal and barbecue fluttered through the air, reminding Percy of campfires, early sunsets, Halloween, s'mores, boring football games, and other indicators of the fall season. It was like what Camp Half-Blood would have been during the fall.

In front of Percy were plates of cheese, bread, and grapes. There was also water, beer, and wine on the table as well. As the group took pieces of the appetizers or sips of their drinks, the dishes magically shifted so that the half-full dishes would empty into another half-full dish. The now empty dish would whisk towards the kitchen, to be cleaned and refilled by Calypso.

According to Leo, Calypso actually enjoyed hosting people. Now that she didn't have the invisible servants she had on Ogygia, she liked making and serving food to others.

"And so," Leo said, adrenaline behind his smile, "I was like, 'Festus! Roast this fool.' Festus reared back and blew fire straight into Polyphemus' face."

As if to illustrate his point, Leo shot a tiny column of flame towards a piece of bread on the glass table. His curly hair had now grown out to a full-grown bush, and wisps of a beard clung to his face. His eyes, however, held the same mischievous glint. Percy figured that he would have gotten along with Connor and Travis Stoll.

"But Polyphemus wasn't fazed," Leo narrated. The bread he had blasted was now slightly toasted. "He just stood there like I had just breathed in his face."

"I'm surprised that didn't kill him," Piper muttered. The comment must have caught Frank off-guard, because the new praetor almost snorted his drink out through his nose.

Hazel, in between Frank and Leo, cleared her throat and tried to hold a smile in.

Leo put his finger up like he was about to respond, but opted to continue with his story. "So Polyphemus reared up, and _punched-_"

With the word, _punched, _Leo threw a harmless jab at Grover, who was on his right. Grover put his snack can down and put his hands up in faux panic. "Oh, no! It hurts so badly, _ahh._"

Percy was glad that he asked Grover to be his plus-one for the _Argo III_ party. Even though it was weird to ask him over Iris-Message, it had been a long time coming for the two of them to reconnect since the incident. Grover had accepted before Percy got the invitation out of his mouth.

A few days later, he had made the trip to Percy's apartment and the two of them headed to Cayuga Lake to find the _Argo III. _They were initially surprised to see just Festus, parked discreetly among a strong layer of Mist on the lake. As they got closer, though, they were welcomed by a raft piloted by Calypso. She led them to the mess hall through a hatch in Festus' body. This journey was accompanied by a fairly convoluted explanation of how Leo managed to fit the _Argo III _inside of a sleeping Festus.

Regardless, Percy thought that a hotel inside of a dragon was by far one of the coolest things he had ever seen. Hephaestus would have been proud. Percy would have enjoyed it a little more if it was under happier circumstances.

Leo grinned at Grover's theatrics. "-Festus so hard that Festus went barreling to the ground."

"Goodness. Why can't all Cyclopes be like Tyson?" Frank mentioned with a frown.

Grover shook his head. "I know. Then again…I don't know if we deserve a world where all the Cyclopes are like Tyson."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the group. Percy had to agree, as well. Tyson had done some big things since Poseidon claimed him years ago. He wasn't the kid who cried at any mean remark anymore. Not only did he make a name for himself in the underwater forges, but he also recently tried his hand in the bookstore business. Percy was pretty sure that business was booming, as well. He and Ella made a great team. Through it all, though, Tyson still managed to maintain his jovial and peaceful spirit. Even Grover and Annabeth both warmed to Tyson over time, eventually becoming some of his staunchest supporters and strongest allies.

"Yeah, yeah, Tyson's great," Leo waved off. "But then, Festus went into battle mode. And anyone who knows Festus knows that his battle mode means-"

"Crossbows that show bolts that can crack concrete?" Hazel asked.

"Teeth with drills so powerful that they give dentists nightmares?" Frank suggested.

"The new machine fire cannons you put on its back?" Piper filled in.

The _Argo III _groaned and vibrated as Fests stirred. Leo's smile melted into a stare of exasperation. "I guess I told you the amenities that come with Festus' battle mode. And you all know about the fact that he, you know, blows fire."

The group nodded in agreement.

"And," Leo continued. "The eyes that _shoot hot sauce_!"

"Hot sauce?!" Percy asked, injecting shock and awe into his voice.

Piper raised an eyebrow at Percy. "We already knew about the hot sauce."

"Yeah, I know," Percy admitted. "Sorry, buddy, I tried."

"It's okay," Leo said, even though he looked deflated.

Frank took a bite of bread. "_Uh, _what happened next, Leo?"

Leo's eyes flashed towards Frank like he didn't quite believe that Frank was interested in the story.

"Leo," Hazel said. "What happened next?"

"Yeah," Percy said. "Tell us!"

Grover nodded. "Tell us the dam story!"

Percy and Grover shared a smile.

Leo looked between them and stood up once more. "All right. _So, _Festus gets up and stares Polyphemus down. The two of them are now at full height. Festus is in battle mode. I'm talking about crossbows-"

The group gasped.

"-teeth drills-"

Hazel grabbed Frank's shoulder for exaggerated support.

"-machine fire cannons-"

Frank's jaw dropped.

"-hot sauce eyes-"

"Hot. Sauce. Eyes," Piper sounded out. "Unbelievable."

"-all of it. Polyphemus is like, 'Let's do this.' And then-"

"-Polyphemus let us pass the Sea of Monsters," Calypso finished as she walked into the room. The smell followed soon after. Plates of thick-cut honey barbecue, potatoes, and cauliflower macaroni & cheese floated in the air behind her like they were on an invisible conveyor belt. With a wave of her hand, the plates situated themselves on the glass table like they were actors in _Beauty and the Beast_.

"What?" Frank said.

"Excuse me?" Percy said. He was anticipating this big showdown between Festus and Polyphemus, but now, he couldn't believe that Polyphemus had let them go. He, Annabeth, Grover, and Clarisse had to pull several shenanigans to escape, including taking on the role of Nobody to disorient the Cyclops. He still had nightmares about Cyclopes throwing boulders at him.

"Yeah," Leo said with whiff of disappointment infused into his words. "He let us go."

"How? Why?" Grover asked. Percy heard a sense of urgency in his voice, and Percy wondered if Grover had gotten personally invested in the story.

"I healed him and his ancient injury," Calypso stepped in. She slid a colorful plate to Percy with a suspiciously small piece of meat on it.

Her brown hair was wrapped in two buns that popped out like cinnamon rolls on each side of her head. She looked strange, dressed in a black _Iron Man _T-shirt and light-wash blue jeans. Her skin was more tanned and, with her pierced ears, she almost looked like a normal girl. Percy figured he would never quite get used to seeing her around like this.

Leo nodded and took a bite of his cauliflower. "She literally put her hand on Polyphemus' leg and healed up that old eye of his. You know, the eye Odysseus stabbed back in the day. Restored his vision so that it was near 20/20."

"Yep, this is definitely dinner conversation," Frank noted, throwing down his fork and knife.

"It was causing him great pain," Calypso shared. "Once he could truly see, he was able to see us for who we were. No other being had shown him such consideration."

"Yeah. That's when he realized that I was not his bride-to-be," Leo grumbled.

Grover nearly choked on his aluminum slab.

"He just blinked a few times and looked at Calypso," Leo broke down. "She explain what happened and he thanked her. He petted Festus, and watched us leave."

"So, no rocks being thrown at you?" Percy asked.

"Nope."

"Polyphemus tried to marry you too?!" Grover protested.

"Mhm," Leo garbled with his mouth full of food. "Gave me a ring and everything."

"He gave you a ring?" Grover huffed.

"Easy, buddy," Percy said under his breath.

Calypso sat at the head of the table. "Most beings that we call 'monsters' are dealing with their own demons just as we do."

Everyone looked at their food in shame. Percy could tell that most of them were getting invested in the story and looking forward to this awesome showdown between mechanical dragon and Cyclops, not even giving a second thought to whether Polyphemus deserved what he got.

As Calypso began to eat her vegetables, Percy wondered if she was thinking about her father.

Atlas was definitely seen as a monster to some. Even though Zoe was not the biggest fan of The General, Calypso mentioned that he was perhaps not all that bad. It made Percy feel weird; there were always ways to justify the horrible things that demigods sometimes did. He could chalk up letting people eternally push boulders up hills, trapping Titans under the sky, and sending monsters to Tartarus to the fact that they were just horrible individuals.

Now that Percy had been to Tartarus, he wondered about the potentially cruel implications that one swing from Riptide could have.

"Wait," Hazel said. "Grover. Polyphemus tried to marry you?"

"It was horrible!"

Grover launched into the story, but Percy felt his mind slipping away from the moment. The conversation and laughter turned into static noise as he thought about Annabeth on Circe's ship. Even when Circe had turned Percy into a household rodent and Annabeth was facing a full-fledged upgrade to a magician, she never forgot about him. She kept fighting to save him.

She used her wits to withstand an offer of power, greatness, and authority. Something of which her mother didn't seem capable. Annabeth always managed to find a way to maneuver out of a dangerous situation.

Now, more than anything, Percy wanted to have Annabeth at this table. He wanted to see her laugh at Leo's antics and watch her approve of Calypso's creative approach to Polyphemus.

The static noise eventually died down, and it took Percy a second to register the newfound silence.

Percy brought his attention back to the room to see everyone staring at him awkwardly. Judging from the language in the room, Grover had stumbled across the part of his story that included Annabeth.

Leo was nervously looking away. His leg was shaking quickly.

Frank was squeezing Hazel's hand while his head was hung in remembrance.

Calypso had an unreadable expression on her face, but Percy noticed her winding and unwinding a green and yellow knitted pendant.

Grover had a grimace on his face as he regarded Percy. It looked like Grover knew exactly what Percy was feeling, which Percy figured wasn't too far off from the truth.

Piper was biting her lip. Her eyes seemed fixated on something past Percy, like she was visiting a memory.

Hazel, in contrast, was the only person who looked straight at Percy. Her eyes conveyed sympathy and understanding.

"So…where has everyone been lately?" Leo said.

"Excuse me," Percy said delicately. He exited the mess hall, fully expecting to have to find his way through the new _Argo III_. However, when he stepped out, the hallways looked familiar, as well as the walls. It looked like an exact replica of the _Argo II_ inside.

Percy went through the twists and turns of the ship to reach a room labeled, _Annabeth's Digs (Seriously, if you go in there without her permission, she'll be digging a new grave for you.)_

The room stood right next to a room named, _The Brig (Percy's room)_.

Percy stared at the room for a second, then decided to try Annabeth's door.

The door was unlocked, and Percy slid it open to see a clean, simple cabin room. It smelled faintly of fabric softener. Percy was struck, though, by how much it looked like Annabeth's old room. The cream walls made the white and turquoise sheets on the bunk pop. It seemed like Leo and Calypso had taken a long time to recreate each person's cabin to the best of their ability.

There was a small mahogany desk with a few things on it. There was a stack of books in the corner. Though the titles were in Ancient Greek, Percy could make out the titles, _Greek Fire for Dummies, The Encyclopedia of Greek Gods, Monsters, and History, The Histories of Herodotus, and The Iliad and the Odyssey. _

There was a small black journal on the desk, by the books. A pen lay by the journal, the back of which pointed to a picture of Mr. Chase flying a Sopwith biplane. He had a vibrant grin plastered on his face, and was giving a thumbs-up to the camera.

Percy turned to see a light blue and silver North Face jacket hanging on a hook on the wall.

Percy stepped forward. He reached his hand out to touch the jacket, but hesitated.

"Hey."

Percy turned quickly to see Grover in the doorway. His beard was a lot thicker. He wore a green crewneck sweatshirt read, _I 3 Arcadia. _In black marker, Percy read, _And Juniper! _scrawled underneath _Arcadia _in parentheses. These were accompanied by a set of reed pipes that hung around his neck. He had no pants, which is something Percy has gotten used to. It allowed his shaggy legs to…thrive.

His arms were crossed. Percy almost did a double take, as Grover's muscles looked much more defined than they did when he had last saw him.

Percy turned away, though. "Hey, man."

He touched the jacket. A tingle went through his body, and his heart went to an undefined place. The jacket smelled of a strange combination of lemon, metal, and vanilla.

"You know," Grover said to Percy's back. Percy heard the soft _clop _of Grover's hooves moving towards the desk. "When I first met Annabeth, Thalia and Luke weren't too fond of me. They didn't trust me, and it didn't help that they found out I was a satyr within the first few minutes."

Percy didn't have trouble believing that. Thalia and Luke were already fairly distrustful as it was, and with a new companion on their team, they were probably pretty wary of the sudden arrival of a satyr.

"They were getting ready to attack me," Grover remembered. "And at the time, I was a lot…more fragile, let's just say. So, I was pretty scared of them. But Annabeth stopped them from doing so. You know what she said?"

"She…she never told me the story," Percy said as he looked at Grover.

"She said, 'He didn't do anything to us! If we hurt him, then we're the monsters. And we said no more monsters.' That's what she said. Luke let up, but Thalia was ready to turn me into a goat kabob."

He thought of Thalia blasting Athena with her spear. Percy knew that Thalia had a tendency of coming at anybody that threatened her family, no matter who it was.

Grover continued, "Annabeth then looked at her and told her again-"

"-no more monsters," Percy finished.

Grover closed his eyes like he was saying a prayer. "Even when she was young, she really cared about others."

Percy set Annabeth's jacket back on the hook. "It's kind of crazy how big of an impact Annabeth had on others."

"I'm guessing everyone has a story about her?"

"You have no idea. And even worse, each story is beautiful. They all just fit into who Annabeth is. And it just reinforces how unfair it was for her to be taken from us."

Grover made a small bleating noise as he nearly tripped over the chair at the desk. "You know, it's okay to be angry. I'm angry too. I just…don't quite know who to be angry at, honestly."

"Well, be angry at me. I…I honestly didn't treat you like I should have. I mean, I was a jerk."

"Dude, that's not true," Grover said as he sat on the bunk bed. "Annabeth had just…look, trust me, I understand. Juniper had to stop me from marching straight up to Olympus and asking them what happened."

Percy saw Grover swinging his feet off the bed. "Did you ever hear what happened?"

Grover chewed his lip. "No, not really. I heard fragments, you know? Bits and pieces of rumors. Heard a lot of stories and gossip at her shroud burning ceremony. Nothing that I really quite trust, though."

Percy nodded. "I don't know how many people at Camp there quite know Annabeth."

"Maybe the senior counselors. The younger campers just know her as an occasional visitor who seems to be a big deal. Or as a liaison between both camps. But, honestly, Percy, you're in your twenties. You first got to Camp when you were twelve. That was kind of a long time ago. Now, there are twelve-year-olds there who hear about The Great Prophecy like a history lesson. Campers even treat Rachel like we treated the Oracle in the attic."

That _was _hard for Percy to wrap his head around. He was older now, and there were probably young demigods out there saving the world in a number of different ways. But they were probably removed from Percy and Annabeth's stories.

Percy and Grover sat in silence for a bit.

_Talk to Grover. He's hurting too, but he needs to know what happened to her, _he heard Juniper's voice say in his mind.

"It was Arachne," Percy spit out quickly.

Grover looked up. "Gesundheit?"

"No, it was Arachne. Who killed Annabeth."

Grover stood up. The _clop _of his hooves echoed throughout the room. "What? She's back? How can she-"

"I don't know. But she was back. She challenged Athena to a weaving contest."

"A weaving contest?" Grover began pacing back and forth. He scratched his beard with the pen on the desk. His brow was furrowed and his mouth was tight, like he was deep in thought. "Like the old story?"

"Yeah, like a rematch. And I guess Arachne won."

"She won again?"

"Wait…again? I thought Athena won the first time because Arachne was too proud or something?"

Grover scoffed. "That's what the tabloids want you to think. But Arachne won the first one. And she won this one too, I'm guessing. So how did that lead into the incident?"

Percy cleared his throat. He had just noticed a small little window in the corner of the room. If Annabeth were there, she may have been able to open or close it by reaching from the bunk.

"They decided to make the rematch a little more interesting."

"A little more-" Grover's eyes widened. "No."

"Yeah."

"They bet _Annabeth?_"

"Uh-huh."

"…_huh?_"

"Yep."

Grover ran his fingers through his hair. His horns were so long now that they were starting to curl around the back of his head. "I can't believe this. Annabeth, our Annabeth, died because of a bet. And Athena just went along with this? It wasn't like some double-cross meant to capture Arachne?"

"Yeah. Her own mother," Percy said. He couldn't imagine his mother doing something like that. She would've found a way to cut out Arachne's tongue just for having her son's name in her mandibles.

"I-I can't…I don't even know how to process this." Grover flopped back on the bed. The box-spring creaked under his weight.

"Take your time, man." Percy collapsed in the chair by the desk. "I'm still having a little bit of trouble myself."

Grover looked to Percy. "And you had to watch this happen?"

"Arachne took Riptide and just-" Percy thought about Arachne holding his blade. "And…I lost it. Grover, there was something that came out that I didn't even know existed. I was so mad that I-"

Percy stopped when he saw Grover writing something furiously in the journal. Percy wasn't sure how Grover could write so effectively while horizontal. "Are you my therapist now?"

"No," Grover mumbled. "I'm just putting together a campaign of shame for Athena. I would do one for…the other one, but she hardly needs more shame."

Percy was confused, to say the least. "All right, I'll bite. What's a campaign of shame?"

Grover turned towards Percy. "You've never heard of a campaign of shame?"

"No, I'm just asking sarcastically. Come on, man."

"Sorry," Grover said. "It's basically like a smear campaign, but where the Council distributes some kind of bad news about someone. It can turn someone's adoring fans into their harshest critics in less than a week."

"So, it's basically social media."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. How far does this campaign travel?"

"We have pull," Grover said. Percy thought he could detect a hint of pride in his voice. "Bottom line is, as much as I want to…_ah…_disrespect Athena for what she did, I know that I can't hurt her. I'm just me, you know? But she doesn't deserve a worldwide community of Greeks who worship her. Not after what she did."

Percy couldn't imagine that Athena would take too kindly to it, even if gossip wasn't her biggest priority. He only thought of how mad Nancy Bobofit got when Percy started to tell people that her hair was so red because she spilled a bucket of orange paint on it. "Grover…won't you get in trouble for that? I imagine the gods won't take too kindly to that stuff."

Grover threw his hand in the air absent-mindedly and continued writing. "Ah, sometimes you have to be willing to throw your career out the window."

Grover stopped writing. Without turning to Percy, he continued. "Annabeth was my friend. More than that, she was my _comrade._ Not only in arms, but in life. And now she's gone. I was supposed to…"

Percy saw Grover's eyes get misty.

Percy figured that Grover wanted to say _protect her. _Even though Grover didn't always think too highly of himself, Percy knew that Grover was a pretty capable protector. Grover got him to Camp Half-Blood after all, and Percy knew that he was not always easy to deal with.

"Hey. You were a great protector. And an even better friend. Annabeth loved you."

"_Mmmm," _Grover hummed. "You remember when we played Hacky Sack with that apple?"

Percy's mouth twitched. "You mean when we _tried _to play Hacky Sack with the apple. In one big goat-bite, our game ended."

Grover sniffed and used the pen to point to Percy. "Annabeth was good at that game."

Percy smiled to himself. "Yeah, she was. I wasn't too bad myself, if I recall."

"Eh…" Grover trailed off. Though his eyes were teary, his face melted into a smile.

Honestly, Percy felt the same way. "Come on, buddy," Percy said, clapping Grover on the chest. "We should get back there. They're probably worried."

Percy walked past Grover, only to hear Grover call out. "Percy."

Percy stopped and turned.

"Thanks for telling me. And opening up."

Percy shrugged it off. "No problem. Plus, I don't think I have a choice. With you being able to read my emotions and stuff."

"Whatever. That empathy link has saved your hindquarters a few times."

"More than a few times. Let's go, Goat Boy."

Percy and Grover walked out of the room and back into the mess hall.

Piper seemed to be telling a battle story about how she managed to fight off a monster while in the bathroom of a ballroom. Her story-telling skills didn't seem to be as impressive as Leo's, though, because Frank and Leo were asleep. Hazel was twisting Piper's knife around her hand, occasionally poking herself with it to stay awake.

The only person that seemed to be paying avid attention was Calypso, but she was simply listening quietly rather than the normal, "_Uh-huh" _and "_Oh, wow!" _and "_That's crazy!"_s that most people do when listening to a story.

She was so still that Percy wondered if she was also asleep.

On the table, in the middle of the room, was a canteen full of black, turbid water. If Percy squinted, he could see mirages of divorce papers, college rejection letters, and bad album reviews floating in the water.

"Please tell me we're not drinking that," Percy said. "I'm already sad enough."

Both Frank and Leo jumped. Piper stopped her story and regarded the two of them.

"What are we drinking?" Leo asked groggily.

Hazel used the knife to present the liquid. "We are definitely not drinking that. That's water from the River Styx."

"I wouldn't call it water," Frank judged.

Percy nodded. "Right. Just so we're all on the same page, why do you have liquid from an Underworld river?"

"Well," Hazel looked at Leo and pointed the knife at him. Leo put his hands up. "Leo uses water from the River Styx to help power the Argo III, remember?"

"That's right," Leo confirmed. "Along with a few other ingredients. Like Lemons Fire. Fiery lemonade?"

"Lem_nos _Fire," Calypso corrected.

"Ah," Leo pondered. "I'm drunk."

"You're tired," Frank said.

"That's what I said," Leo stated.

Percy examined Hazel. She didn't seem to look too different, not any stronger or tougher. There was no indication that she bore the Curse of Achilles. Her brown hair was cornrowed in the front, but fell in curls towards the back. Her long sleeve shirt, while rolled up at the sleeves, revealed the _SP _in her _SPQR _marking.

Her light eyes met Percy's gaze. "Do I have food on me or something?"

"No, it's just…you didn't take a dip in the Styx, did you?"

"What? No. What kind of idiot would just swim in the River Styx?"

"I know, right?" Grover asked. He sucked his teeth and threw his hands in the air.

Percy stared at Grover.

Hazel shrugged. "Yeah, I don't usually find myself in the Underworld too much, despite my family ties. But I had to take Nico there after what happened. He tends to heal better in the Underworld."

The rest of the room nodded like they understood. Percy and Grover were not among that group.

"Wait, _heal? _What happened?" Percy asked.

"Hm? Oh, you had stepped out when I was telling the story. A little bit ago, Nico shadow-traveled over to my place at Camp Jupiter. I had to help him patch up some injuries. It looked like ropes of fire had gone straight through him."

"Ropes of fire?" Grover asked.

"Yeah, I can't think of much that can do that to Nico," Hazel admitted. "As weird as he is, he can be pretty annoying in a fight."

Percy's heart dropped. The air turned warm, and the hair on his arms rose like he was touching one of those electrical orbs on the elementary school field trips. The oil lamps seemed to burn brighter. He wondered if it was him, or if it was Festus starting to warm up. "Hazel, when was that?"

Hazel frowned. She looked at Frank for help, but her co-praetor was still blinking pretty hard. "I don't know. About two weeks ago?"

Percy's mouth was dry. Almost two weeks ago, Thalia showed up at his room, torn up like she had been in a one-on-one battle with Edward Scissorhands. She had been suspiciously vague about what she was doing.

Grover read Percy like a newsletter from a campaign of shame. "_Um, _has anyone seen Thalia recently?"

Percy looked at Piper, whose eyes read _danger. _

Calypso closed her eyes. Leo sat up. "Well, she's probably with the Hunters, right?"

"Not anymore," Percy said.

"Oh, no," Grover whispered.

Percy was afraid that this was beginning to unfold into something a lot bigger. If Thalia was in a situation where she felt like she had to attack Nico, she needed to be found. And _soon. _

What if Thalia was in danger?

He thought about her looking over her shoulder in his room, like her reckoning would be coming any day now.

What if Thalia _was _the danger?

Frank was up now, and he and Hazel were exchanging silent conversation.

"She shouldn't be alone," Percy muttered. "Thalia shouldn't be alone right now."

"Don't worry," Hazel said. "I'll Iris-Message Reyna. She'll know where to find Thalia. They're pretty close."

She stood, and Percy fought the urge to be impressed. She had taken command of the room like she was addressing the Twelfth Centurion. It was like charmspeak was threaded into her words. He wanted to believe that everything would be okay.

"Reyna?" Leo scrunched up his face. "Why are you talking to her?"

"Hm? Oh, Reyna and I have been having debrief sessions about the praetorship about twice a month. She gives me tips, I give her updates, she tells me stories about being a Hunter, I give her tips on her hair. You know, the usual."

"Sure," Grover said. "Can you give her a call a little early, then? Maybe she can tell us where Thalia is."

Part of Percy wanted to tell them what happened with Thalia.

Part of him wanted to tell them that she showed up at his place in the middle of night with a bad pierce wound and tried to recruit her to a mission to save Annabeth's soul from the Underworld.

But with such a disclosure, Percy could be putting an even bigger target on Thalia's back than was already there.

With a start, Percy realized what happened. Thalia probably tried to get to the Underworld by herself, and Nico was not too fond of the idea of letting her through. Thalia likely tried to do to Nico what she did with Percy, and the situation ended up coming to blows.

Percy wondered if Nico decided not to tell Hazel what happened because he also, in fact, wanted to protect Thalia.

Percy shuddered. The idea of Thalia and Nico at one another's throats was not something Percy liked.

More importantly, it's something that Annabeth would have hated. They were all supposed to be friends, not fighting one another.

Hazel put her hand out towards one of the oil lamps. Percy watched, dumbfounded, as the heat from the lamp began to materialize and glow golden. The heat then collected into a circular fog-shape, and a golden drachma fell out of it. Hazel caught it. "Oh, Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano."

Percy blinked.

Piper raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I just…Reyna has a last name."

Piper pursed her lips and nodded. "Yup. That's usually…what…happens."

"Ra-ra," Grover said under his breath.

It was strange news to process. Reyna always seemed like the Thalia-type, the warrior so skilled and strong that they were too bad-ass for a last name. Now, hearing her last name, Reyna almost seemed like a person.

"Heads up, Percy," Hazel said, as she flipped the drachma into the air.

It took Percy a minute to register what he should do until the coin was starting to fall. In a split second, Percy had the water out of everyone's cups collecting in the air under the coin. With a thought, he began to spray the water at just the right angle until the vapor exploded into colors. As the water was refracting the small rainbow, the coin sunk into the rainbow.

Percy cursed silently. When Annabeth was in trouble, the sea didn't respond to him. Now that he was doing circus tricks, he was able to use the water nearly effortlessly.

At first, nothing happened. Then, they were looking at Reyna, who looked grievous. She was on a raft in the ocean, with several unfamiliar girls about her age or a little younger. They all wore silver parkas and were armed to the nines. Reyna looked terrible, like she had been fighting nonstop for three days and three nights. Her face was covered in dirt and blood. Her eyes looked a raw red, like she had just cried or was about to. The sky was a dark purple, like the sun was about to come up in a few hours.

"Hey, _uh, _Reyna!" Hazel called out.

Reyna flinched and notched an arrow towards the Iris-Message. Despite it being a holographic message, everyone in the _Argo III _mess hall ducked.

"It's just me," Hazel said with her hand up in surrender. "Just me."

Reyna frowned and put her bow down. "I apologize, Hazel, it's just…is that Frank? And Percy?"

Everyone in the room gave Reyna a wave.

"Ah, so it's a group outing. Is it the reunion party you had mentioned a month or so ago?"

"Afraid so," Hazel confirmed.

Percy looked at Piper. "This has been planned for a month?"

She put her hands up, as if to say, _Don't look at me! She started it. _

"Reyna, how have things been?"

"_Ah, _things are not so calm."

Hazel's face tightened with concern. "What happened?"

Reyna looked away. "Nothing of your concern. Just the usual."

"Terrible liar," Leo criticized.

Grover stepped forward. "This doesn't have anything to do with Thalia, does it?"

Reyna remained silent.

"Reyna," Percy said. "We need to know where she is. We're worried she may be putting herself in danger."

Reyna sighed. "Quite the opposite, in fact. We're on the way to contain her."

"Contain her?" Leo said. "What do you mean by contain? And have you _tried _to contain children of Zeus? They're not so easy to stop. Just a few years ago, Jason-"

"Aye," Reyna interrupted. "Thalia is a formidable opponent. That is why we brought our entire team, and came prepared."

Reyna moved to the side to reveal bottles of Greek fire, piles of arrows, and even handmade bombs.

Silence fell over the room like the water from the Iris-Message.

"Reyna," Percy said slowly. "Do you plan on using that on Thalia?"

Reyna took a breath. "If she comes with us quietly, there will be no trouble."

Percy took a step forward. He could hear his footstep in the quiet room. He knew how stubborn Thalia could be; the Hunters would be hard-pressed to convince Thalia to give up her quest.

"And if she doesn't?"

Reyna didn't answer. The crew in the _Argo III _shuffled in discomfort.

Percy felt torn. On one hand, he felt angry that Reyna even insinuated that she would use any of those weapons on Thalia. On the other hand, he was worried. He didn't know what Thalia was up to, nor what she's been doing since she left his mother's apartment.

"Reyna," Percy repeated. He couldn't lose another friend. "What if she doesn't come quietly?"

"We have orders to stop her, Percy." Now, even Reyna looked torn. "With permission to use lethal force. Thalia has been deemed a threat by the gods."

"Under whose orders?" Percy said.

"Artemis."

"Why would Dian-_er_, Artemis, go after her own lieutenant?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know," Percy admitted. In a horrible moment, Percy realized that this probably didn't help Thalia's case about the gods. A month ago, she was Artemis' head Hunter. Now, she was the one being hunted.

Percy looked at Grover, who seemed at a loss for words.

"You're going to kill Thalia?" Grover asked. "Because Artemis said so?"

Reyna hesitated, then moved back to cover the materials. "It's a direct order."

"So?" Grover protested.

Reyna couldn't answer.

Frank folded his arms and sighed. "Where is she now?"

"Thalia is on the _Queen Cassiopeia. _A ship known to be the property of the Triumvirate Holdings."

Piper's eyes scrambled to meet Percy's. He saw panic and rage in her eyes.

"The Triumvirate Holdings?" Piper asked through gritted teeth. "They have Thalia?"

Reyna shook her head. "No."

Reyna looked around, like she was being watched. She leaned in and whispered, "Thalia has killed Nero in front of his followers in the Atlantic, and has assumed leadership of the Holdings."

Piper dropped her plate. It shattered in a thousand pieces on the ground.

"Leadership of the Triumvirate-" Hazel started. He and Percy shared a look.

"Nero?" Calypso asked. "The immortal emperor?"

Grover shuddered. "Not a nice guy."

Percy turned away from the Iris-Message.

_What is Thalia up to?_

"How did you hear about this?" Calypso challenged.

"Artemis herself informed us. She told us to get to Thalia, suppress her, and bring her to Olympus. Preferably alive."

"Why can't Artemis go after her herself?" Grover asked.

Reyna looked around again. "I'm not quite sure. She told us that it wasn't big enough for her to get involved."

"Yet, she's sending all her forces into the fray," Frank grumbled. "Not mixed signals at all."

This was a nightmare. Not many people seemed to know how strong Thalia was. Anyone who tried to attack Thalia was in for a rude awakening. Even with the full force of the Hunters, Percy was confident that Thalia wouldn't go down without a fight.

And a fight usually meant casualties.

Percy wished he had Riptide, but that wasn't an option at the moment. He had to save Thalia, whether that was from the Triumvirate Holdings, from the gods, or from the Hunters.

Percy turned to Leo. "How fast can Festus fly?"

Leo's eyes looked wild, like he was coming up with a thousand different ways to approach the coming crisis. "How fast do you need him to go?"


	13. Breach

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Thalia

Thalia could barely keep her mouth closed. "What…how…"

She had just finished an eight-hour tour of the _Queen Cassiopeia, _but this was by far the coolest thing she had seen. The _Queen Cassiopeia _held a secret in its upper levels- a large observatory-style outlook that provided a wide shot of the Atlantic. The windows _were _the walls, providing some of the best sights she had ever seen. The room held a soft blue glow, furnished with navigation controls, weapons, and several security monitors. It looked like the inside of a spaceship as she walked in. An elevated obsidian chair was positioned in the center of the room, with blue and red streaks carved into the material. She could feel warm and cool air flowing from different parts of the room, creating an artificial humidity in the room.

Annabeth's _NY _cap hung on her belt like a keychain. Thalia ran her fingers over the cap to help focus her.

"This was Nero's outlook. It is now yours, I suppose," the _Pandos_ said. He spoke in a strangled gasp, like he desperately needed a moisturizing throat-coat tea injected straight into his esophagus. Thalia suspected that his voice was that way because Nero made him constantly whisper in his ear, like a devil on his shoulder. His black fur was not as thick as the one they encountered on the second level. This _Pandos _looked a little older and a little sadder.

"Holy…and Nero used this for what?"

"This was the former emperor's ship of pleasures. The navigation would be to take control of the ship whenever he wanted. The weapons were to give him an advantage if he ever had to retreat up here. The monitors were not only to check for security threats, but also to watch some of the guests."

Thalia turned towards the _Pandos. _His face was devoid of any expression. There wasn't any disgust or approval in his face. Every sentence was delivered in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Watch some of the guests?" Thalia asked. She prayed that the _Pandos _meant anything else than what she thought.

"Yes. Nero would watch some guests strip nak-"

"All right, Dumbo, enough!" Thalia closed her eyes. She was wrong. She should always expect the worse from people like Nero.

However, she felt a little weird about taking his life. A little _guilty. _Even though he was basically scum, she felt like there had to be _someone _that cared about him. And she took Nero away from them. People thought Luke was a monster as well, and had little sympathy for him when he passed on.

Thalia wished she could've been there, cradling Luke as his life ebbed away. It was fitting- him giving his life to defeat the evil that was plaguing him. She liked to think that in that moment, he killed not only Kronos, but his insecurities, his regrets, and his demons. He died, as a hero freed from his shackles. He had probably chosen to be reborn- he always worked too hard. Thalia wondered if she would recognize Luke's reincarnation, or if they would pass by her, a stranger to her memories.

If this journey killed Thalia, she hoped she would die feeling that level of catharsis.

Thalia looked at the _Pandos _and used her head to beckon towards the chair_. _"So, this is mine?"

The _Pandos _bowed to her. "Yes, Emperor. All of the possessions, resources, and power of the Triumvirate Holdings is yours."

Thalia put one finger up. "And stop with that _emperor _stuff. I'm just Thalia."

She stepped up to the chair and looked up to it. As she stood there, Thalia noticed a familiar shimmer of the air leading from the foot of the chair to the ground.

Thalia pointed to the area and concentrated on dispelling the Mist like a fan clearing out steam. Thalia snapped at the area, and three large black steps materialized, ascending to the seat. She shook her head. "Nero was always this dramatic?"

"Always," the _Pandos _confirmed.

Thalia looked at the seat, and couldn't shake the feeling that it felt like a throne. She even felt like it was reaching out to her.

"Hey, how weird would it be if I sat up there?"

The _Pandos _blinked slowly. "I am not sure. It is yours, Emperor."

Thalia glared at the _Pandos, _then looked back at the chair. It gave a sinister vibe, one that almost challenged Thalia to approach.

"Well…then…if it's mine, then I should try it out, right? Just to see how the lumbar support is, right?"

The _Pandos _cocked his head like he wasn't familiar with the culture of office chairs.

Thalia exhaled. "Here we go."

She took one step up. All warmth flushed out of the room, leaving a chill lingering in the air. The chill intensified, getting colder and colder the longer Thalia stayed on the first step. She fought the urge to shiver.

Thalia took another step, and felt the cold melt into a current of heat. It was like she had stepped onto a heating pad turned up to full intensity. She had the feeling that if she stayed here, the step would ignite and give her burns of all the degrees.

The final step was suspiciously free of any kind of effect. Once Thalia sat in the seat, she was surprised to feel soft padding. While on the chair, she looked out to the expanse of the sea, billowing on for miles on end. As she overlooked Poseidon's realm, she had a sick feeling in her stomach. Paranoia began to set in, and Thalia felt like she was in danger.

If Poseidon wanted to, he could sink the ship right now.

Thalia wondered if Poseidon would be willing to do it.

He could stop everything right now, with one thought.

_What if he did?_

"Stop that thinking, my child," a voice said from around her. Thalia looked down to see her mother pacing the room. She wore a sky blue sundress over a worn black leather jacket. Her blue eyes gleamed in the blue light. "You are a star. Poseidon couldn't stop you if he tried."

Thalia had to strongly disagree. "Yes, he could." She had seen Percy's power in full effect, and Thalia knew that even that was only a fraction of the full extent of Poseidon's authority. One tidal wave and a well-placed whirlpool could finish her.

"Not once you've reached the Ophiotaurus," her mother theorized, as she flowed around the room. Her dress flapped behind her. In the light, she looked like a phantom, a mirage created by the sea and sunlight. "When you reach our goal, no one will be able to stop you. They'll be like ants to you, ants that you can crush under your foot."

Thalia watched the sun setting across the ocean. The sky was an ombré of orange, red, pink, and purple.

"Emperor?"

Before Thalia could try to turn, the chair rotated to face the _Pandos. _"What did I say about that, 'emperor' stuff?"

"My apologies, Empress."

Thalia let a sigh escape her. "What is it?"

The _Pandos _looked around the room. "Is there someone in here, Empress?"

"What is it?" Thalia repeated.

"You have a meeting with Circe coming up in a few minutes."

Thalia frowned. "Circe?" She had heard stories from Percy and Annabeth about a sorceress named C.C. who turned Percy into a critter and tried to make Annabeth into a witch.

"Yes, Empress. Circe is seeking funding to open a new spa."

Thalia blinked. She didn't know why sorceresses needed spas if they could just wave their hands and fix people up. "A spa?"

The _Pandos _gave one nod. "Her last spa, according to her, was overrun and destroyed."

Thalia folded her arms. She didn't quite know how Annabeth would react to news of Thalia funding Circe's new adventure. "And what is she giving us in return?"

"She refused to mention it in her pre-appointment survey. She said she'd only speak to Nero."

"Well, that's not an option, is it?" Thalia watched the _Pandos _start picking at his arm. Thalia thought she saw a microcosm of discomfort on his face, like he didn't know what to say.

Thalia shook her head. She turned the chair towards her mother, but she was gone.

Thalia sighed. "Put her through."

The _Pandos _nodded, and he knocked on the ground three times. A small fountain erupted from the ground and started spraying water. The ground around the fountain turned into a circular drain, recycling the water back into the fountain only for it to be sprayed back up once more. A rainbow appeared, and the _Pandos _deposited a diamond. The picture started to form, and Thalia suddenly found Circe forming in the rainbow.

Thalia flinched. Iris-Messages usually didn't work like that- they usually served as a fancy video chat. Instead, this was much more advanced, like a holographic projection.

Finally, a misty version of Circe appeared, with smooth dark hair, tanned skin, and a calculating look. She held an authoritative beauty, like she could have either been the director of an award-winning movie franchise or an ancient queen. She wore one golden ring on her finger, adorned with moving silver designs that rotated like a wheel on a car.

Contrasting with her silky, shifting black suit were her eyes, which glowed with rainbow luminescence. They narrowed, however, upon training on Thalia. Suddenly, her eyes widened and Thalia saw Circe's muscles tense. It looked like she wanted to scamper out the room, but she held her ground.

"You're not Nero." Circe's voice seemed to be laden with charmspeak. Thalia felt herself drawn to the voice, like she would have gotten off the chair and sank to one knee if she was in person. There was something else off about her voice- it sounded like she was speaking in another register.

"Her voice is indicating concurrent disappointment, curiosity, and annoyance," the _Pandos _announced in whisper-scream.

"How-how are you here?" Thalia said, studying Circe's image.

Circe looked impressed. "You speak Greek?"

"Her voice is indicating that she is impressed," the _Pandos _contributed.

Thalia blinked. She never really gave much thought to it, since Greek just sounded like a different kind of English to her.

Circe glanced irritably at the _Pandos. _"And why are you here?"

"Her voice is indicating that feels targeted and annoyed," the _Pandos _judged.

"Can you-" Circe started.

"Her voice is indicating-"

"Argh! Stop!" Circe wailed. She cleared her throat and smoothed her suit. In a second, she was shimmering through the room, admiring the surroundings. "To your initial question, though- I'm a sorceress, love. Iris-Messages are just magic."

She stopped to think for a half-second. "Plus, Iris and I were in the same sorority. We go way back."

"The same what?"

"What happened to Nero?" Circe asked, while looking out at the sunset. It was now more slightly more pink and purple than red.

Thalia turned her chair towards her. "He…retired."

"Forcefully?" Circe asked immediately_. _

Thalia didn't answer.

Circe nodded. "No judgment, sweetheart. I think it's fantastic. The Holdings now controlled by a strong, powerful woman. I never thought this day would come."

"…I guess," Thalia offered.

Circe walked the path Thalia's mother walked. "Now, tell me this-"

"No," Thalia interrupted. She wouldn't get anywhere as a leader if she kept letting people control the conversation. "You tell me this. Why should I give you funding from the Holdings?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Because you're kind of the worst. You hurt my friends."

Circe stopped and blinked while looking at the ground. "Your friends?" Her brow furrowed like she was trying to recall who she could be talking about. "I haven't had customers and years."

"My friends! Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson."

Circe scowled. Her form flickered. "Ah, the delinquents. I didn't _hurt _them, per se. I just wanted to help them unlock their true selves."

"Yeah, by turning men into animals? Or, this time, maybe you'll also turn women into animals as well?"

Circe opened her hands and continued pacing. "I would never turn women into animals. Us women are queens. Sometimes, though, young women need to be separated from their male counterparts to self-actualize and truly unlock the queen inside of them. Like you did."

Circe gestured around her. "I don't see any men under you, and look where you are."

Thalia wondered how Circe would have felt about Luke, had they met.

"You have to understand," Circe continued. "The men I turned were _bad _men. They did horrible things. They killed, they pillaged, they hurt people. I saved others by keeping them away from the general public."

She was lying.

"She is lying," the _Pandos _confirmed.

Thalia stood and climbed down the steps. Circe narrowed her eyes and focused on the nearly invisible steps as Thalia descended.

She stepped towards Circe, who kept her eyes away from Thalia's own.

Circe, who initially seemed smooth and in control, now looked like she was a kid who hated public speaking and had to speak in front of the class.

Thalia was confused as to why Circe seemed so afraid of her, but she wasn't complaining. Right now, she knew she had the power, and she had to _keep _it. Better yet, she needed to use it.

"Percy was not a bad guy," Thalia said. "He's a hero. And you attacked him."

"I did," Circe whispered in a small voice. "I did. I did. But I've grown now."

"Oh, you've grown?"

Circe nodded. "I have. I have learned my lesson, you see."

For a second, Thalia felt bad for her. It couldn't be easy having your entire livelihood destroyed and feeling alone. She then reminded herself of how long Circe had her initial spa and didn't do anything about it.

"She is bluffing," the _Pandos _explained.

Thalia felt heat emanating from her own skin. Strangely, though, she didn't feel warm or hot. She just felt _powerful. _"If we give you funding, you won't turn men into animals anymore."

Circe shook her head.

"Or any_thing _else," Thalia growled.

Circe hesitated, and nodded once more.

"Swear it," Thalia said.

Circe tried to step past Thalia. Like a reflex, though, Thalia reached out with her right hand and grabbed Circe's throat. Thalia got over her initial shock of being able to touch an Iris-Message projection, but she kept the surprise from bleeding onto her face.

Thalia felt the heat starting to burn into Circe. She suddenly felt an overflow of derision and disgust for Circe.

"Swear it, witch," Thalia said, in a voice so deep and rough that it barely sounded like her own.

"I…I swear on the River Styx." Even with her throat in Thalia's hands, Circe seemed to be looking towards the ceiling. Her rainbow colored eyes were pulsing with energy like she was trying to channel magic. However, with her throat in Thalia's hand, she seemed just as helpless as a normal person.

"Wanting what's best for women is not inherently bad," Thalia said. The Hunters, at their best, were a group that empowered women with the power of Artemis. Even the Amazons tried to support women, even if they did go a little far with the collars.

"It's actually good. But the moment you weaponize it and use it to hurt the innocent is the moment it becomes corrupted."

Circe nodded a little too quickly, like she was anxious to be freed from Thalia's grasp.

"If C.C.'s Spa and Resort makes a comeback, it will only be a healing experience for other women."

Circe nodded once more. "Mud masks…and…exfolia-_ach…_therapy!"

Thalia looked at the _Pandos, _who nodded. "She is telling the truth. She will use mud masks, exfoliation, and therapy."

Thalia released Circe, who teleported across the room, far from the daughter of Zeus.

"The Holdings will fund your venture, then," Thalia projected. "If we hear that you're violating our agreement, I will find you."

Circe rubbed her neck, glaring at Thalia from across the room. "And what do you want in return?"

Thalia thought to herself. She never had to make her demands before. When she was with the Hunters, bad guys usually made their demands while they were holding some kind of ransom, unaware of the fact that their ransom was about to fall apart as a result of ten perfectly-aimed silver arrows.

"I don't want anything," Thalia admitted. "Tell others that the Triumvirate Holdings are under new management. We're not in the business of kidnapping, killing, pillaging, all that. We're cleaning up the world."

Circe looked confused momentarily, before she noticed the _Pandos _staring at her. "What are you looking at?!" she snapped.

"Her voice indicates frustration and fear," the _Pandos _recounted.

Thalia frowned at the sorceress. "Hey. Don't talk to him like that."

Circe once again averted her eyes so they didn't fall onto Thalia.

"Look at me," Thalia said.

"No," Circe replied, simply.

"Look at me." Thalia repeated, getting closer. The room began to take on a purplish-blue tint. Nightfall was coming.

Circe looked at Thalia. Once her colorful eyes fell on Thalia's, Circe's form began to shimmer while Circe herself began to sweat. She turned white as a sheet, like she has just seen all her worst fears realized.

Circe threw her finger up at Thalia and blue-white sparkling energy curled towards Thalia like a whip. "Do not come any closer," Circe threatened. "Let the girl go."

Thalia pretended like she knew what Circe was talking about as she continued to advance. Once the energy reached Thalia, it seemed to fizzle out into harmless sparkles. In turn, Thalia saw a charcoal-colored brand appear on Circe's neck, in a language that looked too old to understand. Circe's entire form doubled over and began to shake. With a huge scream, she threw up black holographic sludge.

Thalia was about to rush forward to help, but realized she didn't quite know how to help.

"What's going on?" she asked the _Pandos. _

The _Pandos _shrugged, like even he didn't know what's going on.

Circe just continued to violently shake and scream.

Thalia looked at the _Pandos. _"What is this?"

"A cloud-" Circe's voice came out as a strangled breath. She was still convulsing, but not to the extent as she was before.

Thalia looked at Circe. She had her hand up like she was asking for one more minute.

"A cloud…there's a cloud…of energy around you. _Bad _energy."

"Bad energy?" Thalia asked.

"It's…hungry. _Malicious. _It's behind you _right now_," Circe looked up at something over Thalia's shoulder. Circe screamed and shook once more.

Thalia turned behind her to see her mother standing there, brushing her hair while a hair tie was in her mouth.

Beryl cocked her head when she caught Thalia staring. "What?" she garbled while her mouth was full.

Thalia beckoned towards Circe. "Do you know what's going on with her?"

Her mother shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm tired of her."

With another scream and a flash of red energy, Circe's form was ripped from the room.

Thalia blinked and turned to her mother, who was tying her hair up in a bun. It was hard to imagine that her mother could have done that. "What was that, Mom?"

"What was what?"

Thalia waved her hand at where Circe was. "She looked right at you and threw up, saying that there's some bad energy around me. She couldn't even look at me straight on."

Her mother shrugged. "Perhaps she saw the power you have, my darling. For now, though, you can relax knowing that you made your mark. The Triumvirate Holdings are ushering in a new age of international protection."

"International protect-" Thalia looked at the _Pandos. _"What does the Holdings have in terms of resources?"

"121,532 demigods stationed throughout the world. Each continent besides Antarctica has been infiltrated."

"What the Hades is going on with Antarctica?" Thalia asked.

"That's the property of Itztlacoliuhqui," the _Pandos _explained, once again in a matter-of-fact fashion. It was like this was general knowledge.

"Its-la-who?"

"One of the Aztec gods, my dear," her mother whispered. "God of cold, ice, punishment, sin, and misery."

"How do you know that and I don't?"

Her mother shrugged. "Death brings knowledge not always accessible to those in life."

"Whatever," Thalia said, nodding at the _Pandos. _"Go on."

"The Holdings has large stockpiles of weapons on every property- one base in every large nation. Greek fire, weapons, and Pegasi are all at those places. We hold several rare beasts and animals for trading if we need. The Holdings also dabble in slavery transport and delivery in some isolated northern tribes. We also have a baby Hydra, a some sea monsters, a Sphinx, a-"

"All right, all right!" Thalia put her hand up and shuddered. She was literally the head of an evil organization. "Free all of them."

"All of…" the _Pandos _blinked, like he was finally confused. "You would like us to free the monsters?"

Thalia hesitated. She looked to her mother for guidance, but she was gone. Releasing monsters onto the public was probably not the best idea. After a few days of reckoning, demigods would probably come to the area to try to suppress the threat.

Thalia didn't know how she felt, though, about being the catalyst of a threat that demigods have to set out on a quest to stop. She thought about how she would've felt if she was the one that released the Nemean Lion and other young demigods had to fight for their lives against it.

"Uh, no. Keep…keep the monsters. But, _er, _improve their living conditions. Free the harmless animals. End the slavery business, I don't even know why that's even a question."

The _Pandos _nodded and was about to slink out of the room before stopping in the entrance. He turned back and asked, "Would you also like to cancel your meeting with Set?"

"Set? Like from the Egyptians?"

The _Pandos _nodded.

Thalia racked her brain. The name itself gave her some bad juju, but she herself couldn't remember any specific things about the Egyptian god. She wished she would've paid more attention during Artemis' story-times. "Uh, yeah. Cancel that."

The _Pandos _turned to leave, but, this time, Thalia stopped him. "Wait. Do we have spies anywhere?"

The _Pandos _nodded. "Embedded in nearly every nation of interest."

"What about places not on this plane?"

The _Pandos _cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

Thalia hesitated. "Do we have any in Olympus?"

The _Pandos _moved closer to Thalia, like he was used to talking about this in close quarters. "Of course we have spies in Olympus, Empress!"

Part of her wanted to pull them out. She knew how cruel the gods could be, and she couldn't live with herself if anything happened to them.

Then again, they were in Olympus for a reason. Thalia wondered if they were there as part of a scheme to overrun Olympus.

Then _again, _those spies could themselves be triple agents and secretly working for the gods. One wrong step, and Thalia could end up confessing to her own wrongdoing.

She cleared her throat. "Any updates?"

The _Pandos _produced a notepad from thin air. "Ah, Apollo got his powers and divinity back a little bit ago. Jacob the dryad and Estrella the nymph split up. Aphrodite cheated on Hephaestus once again, this time with Dionysus. Arachne was caught and sent to an Olympian prison for judgment, after killing a demigod."

Thalia closed her eyes and put her hand up. "Wait, rewind there. What's going on with her? The one who…killed the demigod?"

"Ah," the _Pandos _checked his notes, as if it wasn't just a few seconds since he had talked to her about that. "She is set to be judged by the Olympians, but they haven't quite gotten to her yet."

"What?" Thalia wanted to punch something. "Why not?!" If Thalia couldn't get to her, Arachne deserved to be judged and destroyed by the gods. Reyna had told her to trust in Olympian justice, but it was nowhere to be found.

"It seems like the Olympians are backed up in cases," the _Pandos _reported. "They still need to resolve a few territory disputes between some minor gods."

Thalia was about to jump down the _Pandos' _throat, but her mother placed a hand on her shoulder. "This only gives you more time to get to her, my love."

Thalia nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I have time to get to her."

"Excuse me?" the _Pandos _asked.

"Direct this ship to New York Harbor. We'll move on Olympus soon." Thalia looked down at the _Pandos, _who was waiting further instruction. "You're dismissed," Thalia said.

She was halfway to her chair when someone ran into the room.

"Emperor! Intruders!"

Thalia turned to see a seven-and-a-half-foot tall Germani guard, with tangled red hair and a dark red beard. He was shirtless and had an eight-pack resting where his belly should have been. He wore armor similar to the Spartans, and held a spear.

"Intruders?" Thalia looked out towards her monitors to see several tiny dots in the water. There were about twenty of them, surrounding the ship in a loose oval formation.

As soon as Thalia wished that the screen was bigger, the images zoomed in closer to see that the dots in the water were actually simple rafts. A lot of young women in silver parkas were standing on the boats, holding bows and notching arrows.

The Hunters had arrived.

* * *

A huge explosion erupted from one of the lower levels, shaking the entire _Queen Cassiopeia _like an indoor had to grab the controls to steady herself from falling. She looked at the monitors and zoomed into one of the Hunters. Thalia could recognize Naomi, who was tipping her arrow with a vial of Greek fire.

"Oh, no," Thalia muttered to herself. She didn't know what to do. Thalia didn't want to hurt them, because they were her sisters, at the end of the day. And yet, they were here to capture her.

"My lord! Should we shoot back?" the Germani asked.

"Yes!" Thalia yelled over the commotion. She grabbed her spear. "Shoot around them. Not to kill, but just to deter."

"Not to kill?" The Germani guard looked disappointed.

"Also, take a few ships and meet them where they are. Stop them from shooting. Don't kill, just restrain them."

"Restrain them?" the Germani guard grumbled.

"Don't kill, just restrain. Now, go!" Thalia screamed. The guard scrambled out the room. Thalia returned to the screens.

A few minutes later, Thalia watched the cannon demigods man the weapons while Triumvirate archers took their positions. Other guests took shotguns and took aim over the ledge of the ship. A few Germani guards manned a slingshot, rolling a huge boulder onto the contraption.

In a moment of horror, Thalia realized she didn't specify _what _weapons they should be shooting. She had been too vague. With this many weapons aiming to miss, some were bound to hit.

Thalia closed her eyes as a barrage of weapons were shot at the Hunters. A second of silence followed, and Thalia exhaled.

They had missed.

Then, Thalia realized she was wrong. She watched as one of the cannon blasts hit a Hunter raft. The boat exploded on impact, in an orange-and-black plume of fire and smoke. On the other side of the _Queen Cassiopeia_, the boulder slung from the slingshot crashed into the watery space between two Hunter boats, capsizing them and blowing Hunters into the Atlantic. Thalia heard cheering downstairs.

She saw the Germani boats cast out into the Atlantic, and jet towards the Hunters' boats.

She sprinted out of the room amidst the symphony of shots happening downstairs. The noise was deafening; it filled up the rooms, the halls, and her heart. She knew that each shot carried the possibility of either a Hunter dying or one of her new crew members.

She could not let this happen. She needed to take control and stop them from killing Hunters_. _

Thalia kicked down the door leading to the deck, finding absolute pandemonium. A pop-classical music playlist bumped from the speakers and into the early evening. Hundreds of guests were running around maniacally. Silver arrows streaked through the air like deadly glowsticks, mowing down person after person. Any time that a cannon fighter got hit, they were quickly replaced by a crazed or drugged-up party-goer that would just let loose with a drunken scream. Some dove into the colossal pool to avoid the flock of arrows.

"Stop shooting!" Thalia screamed, as she threw a partygoer out of her way. "Stop!"

No one listened. It was chaos. The attacks continued mercilessly on both sides.

Thalia ground her teeth. She felt the clouds in the sky, as well as her voice sounding in unison. As she spoke, a clap of thunder sounded over the Atlantic. "STOP!"

The guests flinched and the attacks began to cease. Everyone on the Holdings ship turned towards Thalia. For a moment, there was peace. Thalia saw flashes of Doris and Lulu standing up. Doris had several arrows embedded in her armor, but she was still standing.

Thalia felt it before she saw it. The now humid air began to shift slightly, and a silver arrow sliced through Lulu's face, blowing out her brains. Other Holdings associates that were by the ledges were also shot down.

Doris, covered with Lulu's blood and brains, screamed and picked up a machine gun, shooting back at the source of the attack.

Thalia watched pandemonium resume. People re-positioned themselves at the weapons, shooting at the Hunters. Partygoers snorted cocaine and injected substances in their body before launching either real or makeshift weapons at the Hunters.

Thalia could barely believe it. The Hunters had used the cease-fire as an opportunity to gain ground rather than trying to negotiate. It was a bold move, something that Thalia would have done if she was tasked with infiltrating the ship. She understood, but she was a little shocked.

Thalia looked out to the water. The Hunters' rafts were closer now. However, the Germani boats had reached the Hunters, and Thalia saw the silver streaks focusing on the Germani rather than the Holdings guests.

That was the end of the Germani's diplomacy attempts. They brandished spears and swords, and attacked the Hunters in the Atlantic. Thalia had to stop herself from screaming at them. She didn't know what they didn't understand about nonviolent engagement.

The good news was, the onslaught of arrows lightened up due to the Hunters being more preoccupied.

The bad news was, the Germani were no match for the Hunters. They were getting out-fought and outclassed by the immortal maidens of Artemis.

"Move to the lower levels!" Thalia screamed, using her spear to herd the crowds to the stairs. She channeled electricity through the boards of the deck to encourage the party guests to move a bit faster. They only had a few more seconds before the Hunters freed themselves up.

"Lower levels!" She needed to get them out of the way so there were no more deaths.

Thalia saw a few silver arrows fly towards the ship. The Hunters were slicing through the Germani.

"Primes, to me!" Thalia yelled. After a few seconds, the Primes surrounded her. With a tug of her heart, Thalia saw Doris shaking with rage. She hadn't cleaned up her face quite yet, so Doris' presence was an active reminder of what the Hunters had just taken from them.

"Take the bows and arrows from the archers and send them down with the others. The pool has several protected Greek fire candles positioned in a line throughout the pool floor. Get those candles, uncover them, and tip your arrows with the fire," Thalia commanded. "They want to attack us with fire, we shoot back with fire. Shoot at the planks, not the Hunters."

Thalia saw Doris look away.

"Doris!" Thalia snapped. She needed Doris to understand this, lest something happen. "The _planks. _Not the Hunters. While they're occupied, we want to cut their legs out from under them. Nobody but fighters should be still on this deck in five minutes. No matter what, we try our best to engage non-lethally."

Doris stepped off. Clarisse gave a slight shake of the head to Thalia and stepped forward. "You heard her. Let's go, let's go!"

The Primes ran throughout the ship, retrieving the Greek fire candles, snatching bows and arrows, and sending the archers away. Thalia continued to herd the partygoers downstairs. She occasionally looked down at the Hunters' ships to gauge their location.

After a minute or so, the Primes were armed and loaded. They began to shoot fiery arrows onto the ships.

They weren't, however, shooting out at the water. The Hunters were so close now, that the Primes were basically shooting straight down from the ledge of the ship. The Germani scouts that had been sent out were nowhere to be found. Now, the Hunters were at the _Queen Cassiopeia. _

Thalia watched the chaos unfold. The Primes' aim was nearly impeccable- every shot corresponded to a hit target, usually right in the middle of a plank. Each time an arrow hit, the raft began to catch on fire that glowed emerald in the nighttime. The Hunter on that boat would dive off into the ocean.

Thalia would have been worried about their bodies going into shock and dying by drowning, if she didn't know that Hunters could survive underwater. They were incapable of dying by anything besides active battle. Right now, she needed the Hunters to abandon their ships, along with their ammo.

Once the Primes were done shooting, thirteen boats were burning in green fire.

Then, thirteen boats erupted in a huge, chaining column of fire and energy. They all exploded like a nuclear bomb of green fire and heat.

"Holy-" Thalia couldn't even finish her sentence, as the nighttime was momentarily illuminated with the light of so many explosions that it seemed like daytime. The heat dispelled from the explosion made outside feel like summer again.

Thalia cursed. The Hunters must have had stored more explosives on the ships. The Greek fire arrows the Primes shot did nothing but sentence them to an early grave.

"No-" Thalia uttered. She felt her voice shrinking once more, at the thought of her Hunters dying in explosions. If she listened closely, she thought she could hear the remnants of their final screams.

_Reyna. _

Thalia heard the release of arrows, and she turned to see the Primes continuing to shoot. With a start, Thalia realized that some of the Hunters were still alive.

This was no longer a ranged attack. This was a melee one.

Thalia looked over the edge, to see a handful of Hunters climbing up the ship.

Morgan, Thalia's former ally, notched an arrow. "I have eyes on her!"

She then shot it towards Thalia. Thalia ducked away from the ledge of the ship, only to see the arrow fly dangerously close to her head and launch into the night sky. Thalia could hear the arrow whisk past her.

She didn't know how to feel- she was glad Morgan had survived, but not thrilled about Morgan trying to kill her.

"Empress!"

Thalia turned to see the _Pandos _and a humanoid with long, black surfer-hair. Surfer dude had a breastplateand swim trunks on. He held a single fire extinguisher.

"The cabins are on fire," Surfer dude explained. "They blew out a chunk of the ship, down by the bottom levels. If they continue to burn and spread, they'll reach our machinery room. What should we do?"

"Put it out!" Thalia yelled. She needed to wrap this interaction up before the Hunters breached the ship and began unloading.

"Nothing's working! We tried everything," he yelled among the noise.

Thalia racked her brain. She knew that Greek fire was not easy to quell. She knew it was made of nectar and alcohol, as well as several other things that she forgot about. What she did know is that Greek fire was a magical substance, which may need a magical solution.

Thalia took the hydrant, unscrewed it, and held it open towards the sky. She concentrated on the moon, praying to the universe that she could get this right. If she didn't, a lot of people would die by fire.

She concentrated some more, but nothing happened. Her mind was being pulled in a hundred different directions, including the arrows flying between the Primes and the Hunters.

"Mom," Thalia cried out. "Help me!"

Suddenly, her mother was there, sitting on the ledge of the ship like Hunters were not about to hop onto it. "Concentrate, Thalia," she said. "For your people. For your family. Quiet your mind."

As her eyes were closed, she began to see memories of Luke, Jason, Annabeth, and her mother. The memories flashed by so quickly that Thalia couldn't stop to identify each moment. However, the noise quieted around Thalia. She felt like she was dreaming again, like she was a tree at Camp Half-Blood once more. Her consciousness began to flatten and slip away, towards a state of limbo. After a while, Thalia felt like she was watching herself holding the fire extinguisher with her eyes closed.

The humidity begin to collect in the air. It condensed once more, and Thalia saw not the moonlight, but the light of the stars begin to shine down on the extinguisher. The starlight and the humidity combined together and condensed to create a drop of glowing blue water. The drop was suspended in the air, like someone had just copied it from somewhere and pressed _CTRL-V _on reality.

"Huh," Thalia said. "That's new."

The drop grew until it was the size of a baseball. She wanted to touch it, but she knew now was not the time. Thalia stopped her concentration, and watched as the large drop fell into the open extinguisher. The foamy substance inside turned a luminescent blue.

Thalia closed the extinguisher and held the extinguisher to the _Pandos _and the humanoid. "Use this to put the fire out."

"Will this work?" the humanoid asked.

"It has to," Thalia said. "It will. Start with the cabins and the machinery, so we don't lose any of the guests. Then make your way up here with that. Moonwater, or…starwater, I guess…multiplies in watery substances. Think of it like a tea bag steeping itself in water. As long as you have that extinguisher, you should be able to contain Greek fire."

The two nodded and ran off towards the stairs.

As Thalia brought her attention back to the battle, she saw Clarisse get shot in the shoulder while perched on the ledge. Clarisse yelled in response, tore the arrow out, and dove away.

The Primes followed her lead, ducking and tucking away as about fifteen Hunters hopped onto the ship. They all notched their arrows in their bows, facing Thalia, the Primes, the remaining thirty Germani, and the armed _Pandai_.

Thalia heard the slosh of the pool behind her and her forces. She was glad that the pool was so large that the Hunters couldn't encircle them.

"Thalia!" Naomi called out in the newfound silence. She lowered her bow. "Enough of this!"

Thalia looked around. "I wasn't the one that used Greek fire arrows on a ship full of people."

"You of all people know that we destabilize before we attack," Naomi scolded. "We lost _Hunter lives _today because you won't come quietly. Alex, Jackie, Heather, all dead. All dead, because of you."

Thalia felt her throat get dry. Her hands began to sweat as she held her spear. "They're dead?"

Naomi's eyes looked frantic. "Yes! They are! Countless others. And more will probably die if you keep resisting."

"What about Lulu?!" Doris cried out. "You've killed people that didn't deserve to die."

A shade came over Naomi's face. "If you stand with her, you are against us."

Thalia looked around. She recognized Hunter, Jackson, Morgan, and Kiara, but the rest were unfamiliar. They must have been from other Hunter branches. To them, Thalia was probably nothing more than a despot desperate to cling to her power.

Thalia wasn't that, though. She was only doing this to _stop _the despots.

"Is it really that simple, though?" Thalia asked. "You're either with us or against us? What if I told you that we're not trying to hurt you? We didn't even do anything to you all, and yet here you are."

Naomi's eyes switched from Thalia to Doris. "We're here on orders."

"Yeah? Did Artemis order you to be here?" Thalia felt sarcasm creep into her voice at the mention of her old mentor. "Do you think she knew that people would die?"

"You don't deserve to speak her name," Naomi hissed.

"Look, like you said, more will die if you keep coming after me. I can't let you all stop me from making things right. A new age. Where people will be free."

"You're deranged."

"You're blind," Thalia retorted. It made her feel a little bad. Naomi was so loyal to the cause that she seemed to lack the capacity to think for herself. She simply held and regurgitated Artemis' philosophies without any individualism or critical thought of her own.

"All right, that's enough," Naomi said. "You're going to come with us _now. _Or this battle will continue and more lives will be lost."

Thalia put her hands up. Her forearm strained under the weight of her spear at that angle. "All right."

"Come on," Naomi said under her breath. Thalia realized, that under all that anger, part of Naomi still cared for her. That was the main reason Thalia wasn't on the ground with an arrow in her neck.

That care, however, also kept Naomi from using her advantage. With her hands up, Thalia channeled electricity through her spear and watched as it struck Naomi in the side. Naomi flew back about ten feet, and landed hard into the side of the boat.

The Primes, Germani, _Pandai, _and demigods all charged the Hunters. After the first three seconds of fighting, Thalia could tell that despite the Hunters' lesser numbers, they had the advantage. They were quicker, faster, stronger, and better fighters all around.

Thalia took Annabeth's invisibility cap from her belt and disappeared from view. She needed to give them an advantage, and prevent them from just snatching her up with a net and diving off the boat. Thalia then took her spear and joined the fray.

Kiara engaged with Miranda, who was holding her own against the immortal maiden. Kiara glowed with a silver aura as she shot a few arrows at Miranda, who sliced them in half in mid-air. Miranda then charged with her knives, sliding and slicing at Kiara's knees. Kiara did a few high-knees to avoid the attack, then used her arrows as melee, close-quarter weapons.

Thalia, invisible, came up behind Kiara and kicked her in the knee. Kiara's leg buckled, throwing off her balance for a half-second. A half-second was all Miranda needed, as she took her knives and plunged them into both of Kiara's knees. Miranda then sent a kick to Kiara's chin, sending her to the ground.

Thalia saw Doris and Naomi attacking one another. Doris managed to disarm Naomi, but not before getting another arrow shot in her chest by an unseen Hunter. Doris, however, seemed undeterred, and continued to advance. Thalia jogged over and tazed Naomi in the back. Her body instantly went limp, allowing Doris to knock Naomi into the pool. She dove into the pool after her, screaming curses in Greek.

Thalia took her spear and blasted an unfamiliar Hunter with static electricity, allowing the two Primes engaging her to disarm her and break her legs.

Thalia was starting to feel pretty confident- as long as she strategically used Annabeth's cap, she would be able to give the Primes and the Germani the upper hand in this fight. She could also watch out for any fatalities on either side by disarming any of her crew that decided to attack lethally.

Thalia saw Hunter Kowalski take down two Germani single-handedly. Thalia rolled towards her and was about to knock her off-balance when Hunter looked dead at her. Thalia stopped, but Hunter notched her arrow.

"Hunter-" Thalia started.

Hunter hoisted the bow and arrow towards Thalia, so high that it partially shrouded her face. "Give yourself up, lieutenant."

Hunter released her arrow right at Thalia. The arrow flew right into Thalia's shoulder. She felt her face involuntarily twitch from pain, as she lost her balance and stumbled back. She could only watch as another unfamiliar Hunter backhanded a demigod, picked him up, and threw him right into Thalia.

Thalia and the demigod fell to the ground, groaning. This guy was _heavy. _

"Have you ever heard of an-_ah_\- low-carb diet?" Thalia wheezed.

"I like bread too much," the demigod admitted.

Thalia threw him off, but saw Hunter Kowalski notched another arrow towards her. However, she was tackled into the pool by a brazen demigod. Thalia saw Doris swimming underwater towards the demigod and Kowalski, ready to ambush her in the water. Thalia hoped that Doris won against Naomi, but in a way that spared her life.

Thalia stared down at the arrow in her shoulder. Hunter had looked right through her invisibility, like Thalia did Jason when he would throw a sheet over himself and declare himself invisible.

_Unless…_

Thalia put her hand on her head, only to find nothing there. The sound began to drain from the area, but Thalia wasn't creating starwater this time.

The hat had been stolen from her, as had their advantage.

Thalia scrambled up and surveyed the scene. She searched for anything out of ordinary, anything that indicated a mysterious presence. For a moment, she couldn't see anything.

Then, she saw an unseen force thrust a silver sword through Miranda Gardiner's back. Her blood erupted from the sheer force of the strike. Thalia screamed as Miranda dropped her knives.

Clarisse disengaged from her scuffle and threw a dagger towards Miranda. It didn't hit the daughter of Demeter, though- it hit whatever was behind her.

Thalia watched as the hat fell off of the thief to reveal Reyna, wincing and removing the knife from her thigh.

"Reyna?" Thalia asked, not to anyone in particular.

Reyna stood up and stared down Clarisse, who barreled towards her like the Minotaur. She was sweating in the humid evening, and some of her hair was matted down. Reyna looked at the invisibility cap like she was thinking about using it, but ultimately decided against it. Reyna removed the sword from Miranda's body, spun it, and yelled at Clarisse.

The daughter of Bellona charged Ares' daughter, and the two engaged in perhaps the best battle Thalia had seen on a battlefield. The two combatants were deadly silver and black blurs, using every weapon or resource at their discretion. Everything they touched was a weapon. Reyna threw a pack of cocaine at Clarisse. She threw a few bottles at Reyna. Clarisse's anger was matched by Reyna's tactical prowess, but Reyna's strategy was leveled by Clarisse's bloodlust.

Thalia felt the whistling and curving of the air around her, and dodged an arrow shot towards her. Thalia looked to see two unfamiliar Hunters attack her. Thalia brandished her spear and twirled it around her fingers.

They both tried to shoot arrows; one at Thalia's head and the other at her legs. Thalia, however, dodged the arrows by flipping horizontally in the air. She then landed on the ground, rolled, and jabbed with her spear. Hunter 1 dodged the attack while Hunter 2 took the opportunity to kick Thalia in the back. As Thalia's center of balance was thrown off, Hunter 1 tried to lop Thalia's head off with a hidden dagger in her sleeve. Thalia dodged at the last second so the dagger only sliced a gash open in Thalia's cheek.

Thalia couldn't quite see it, but she could feel the blood streak down her face. Thalia touched the wound and let her hand fall to her wrist. She unleashed Aegis. Doing so served as a temporary Hunter repellant, as Hunter 1 and Hunter 2 hesitated in their attacks.

Thalia then banged her spear on Aegis. "Come on."

Hunter 1 yelled and shot a close-range arrow at Thalia, but Thalia was able to block it using Aegis. Hunter 2 tried to come at her from the other side, but it was exactly what Thalia expected. Thalia turned and elbowed Hunter 2 in the face. As Hunter 2 stumbled back, Thalia knocked her to the ground with a forceful push with Aegis.

Thalia advanced on Hunter 2, fully expecting Hunter 1 to come save her comrade.

Sure enough, Hunter 1 tried to. However, she didn't charge her- Thalia heard her pick up a bow and arrow. Thalia heard Hunter 1's exhale, and threw Aegis towards her without even turning. Thalia sighed in relief when she heard a _clang _and a thud. Hunter 2 sat up, only to be met with a sharp knee from Thalia.

Thalia picked up Hunter 2 and threw her overboard. The water wouldn't kill her, but it would effectively neutralize her as a threat. Climbing the _Queen Cassiopeia _with just one's hands was an impossible venture, even for Hunters.

The Primes, Germani, and demigods followed her lead, disarming their defeated Hunters and throwing them underwater.

Thalia turned to see Hunter 1 still crumpled on the ground. She was stirring, however, and Thalia silently cursed the Hunters' quick healing. Thalia ran over to Hunter 1, jumped in the air, and landed right on Hunter 1's face with a sickening _crunch. _Thalia admired her work- she didn't always break noses. But when she did, she felt strangely picked the bloodied Hunter up and threw her overboard as well.

Before Thalia could celebrate, she saw a new challenge enter the fray. Greek fire began to spread on the deck. The heat from the magical fire slapped Thalia in the face, and seemed to disorient each of the fighters.

Each of the fighters except Reyna.

Reyna, having been trained by Lupa to withstand extreme temperatures in a battle (according to Reyna's letters to Thalia), used the opportunity to slice a gash in Clarisse's leg. She then jumped straight up, kicking Clarisse in the chest and sending her flying away from the fire.

Thalia gathered herself and walked towards the fire. She thought about picking up Aegis for protection, but she knew that would send the wrong message. Thalia needed to confront her by herself.

While the others scrambled to flee the fire, Thalia walked towards it. Thalia's grip tightened on her spear as she approached Reyna. Reyna held her ground, holding her sword painted crimson with the blood of Thalia's allies.

"Thalia," Reyna greeted simply.

"Reyna," Thalia replied. The fire was starting to crawl towards Reyna's heels, but she didn't budge.

"Are we finished?" Reyna asked.

Thalia felt her hands trembling. "Attacking Miranda from behind? Where's your honor?"

"The Hunt is not the walls of Camp Jupiter," Reyna said. "Nor is it Lupa's lair."

Ash, sweat, and blood covered her face, but Reyna didn't break eye contact. "Just as you said- there will be attacks from all angles."

"When we're fighting monsters!" Thalia protested. "Not when we're facing off against the good guys!"

"The good guys?"

With that one challenge, Thalia felt like she had been smacked between the eyes. To Reyna, Thalia was sure that she looked like the bad guy. She was had defected from the Hunters and was now the head of the Triumvirate Holdings.

"Yes, the good guys," Thalia answered. "Artemis doesn't quite know what's good and what's bad. She knows what intimidates her and what doesn't. And she sends you all to take care of what intimidates her."

"I am not here for Artemis," Reyna countered. "I'm here on behalf of myself. I'm here for you."

For a beat, the flames of the Greek fire was the only sound she could hear. The fire now enclosed them in a burning circle, as it continued to spread throughout the deck. It even spread on the water, which was an image so strange that Thalia tried not to focus on it.

Thalia tried not to think about the fact that it wasn't just the _Queen Cassiopeia _burning, but also perhaps all her newfound capital. Few people would be willing to respect someone who can't hold their base against the first attack against them. Yet, here Thalia was, watching the ship be consumed by fire.

In that moment, though, Thalia only replayed one statement Reyna had said.

_I'm here for you. _

"You're here…for me?"

Reyna gave a swallow and nodded. "I care for you, Thalia. More than…that's why I need you to stop this."

Thalia's mouth was dry. Reyna seemed so genuine, so concerned. Yet, she didn't know what was truly at stake here.

"Do you know why I'm doing this, Reyna?"

"Yes."

Thalia looked around. She could no longer see any allies, as the flames had grown to three times their size. Now, they were surrounded by walls of flames on each side. "You don't know. I've never told you."

"I know that you're doing this because of what happened on the beach that night."

Thalia stared.

"I know that you're doing this because you felt like our lady abandoned you, in favor of her own aspirations."

Thalia banged on the deck with her spear. "Stop it."

"I know that you're doing this because you are seeking a new family to be a part of."

Thalia pointed the spear at Reyna. "I said, stop."

"I know you're doing this because Annabeth was killed."

Thalia clenched her jaw, biting back a venomous retort about Hylla. She needed to keep her word that she wouldn't mention any of Hylla's involvement. Instead of replying, Thalia simply sent a surge of electricity through her spear as it pointed at Reyna. It crackled with chaotic energy.

"You should leave now, before something bad happens," Thalia said in a tight voice.

Reyna looked at Thalia's spear. Her facial expression was controlled and practiced, like that of a warrior that has had plenty of experience negotiating in battle. However, not even Reyna could mask the flashes of fear in her eyes. Thalia wasn't sure if it was fear of fighting her or fear that Thalia wouldn't turn. Regardless, it was fear- which meant that it could be exploited.

Reyna lifted her sword, and Thalia's heart sank. She needed to do this. She needed to fight Reyna. Not only for Miranda, but for Annabeth.

But then, Reyna dropped her sword in the flames.

It took Thalia a few seconds to register what just happened, as she watched the blade get melted down in the fire. Thalia recognized the tipping of the blade with celestial bronze and imperial gold, which explained why it was able to puncture the Primes' tough armor.

Thalia then looked up at Reyna, whose eyes were starting to get misty.

"I'm not going to fight you, Thalia," Reyna declared, with her arms slack at her sides. Despite the inferno around them, Reyna suddenly looked small, meek, and delicate. "I care for you."

Reyna then squared her shoulders and her legs, like a soldier would do when addressing a superior. She put her hand out, reaching for Thalia. "Come with me. We can leave this place together."

Thalia didn't look at Reyna's hand. She _couldn't, _because she was scared that seeing it would ignite a spark of doubt that would eventually grow into a blaze of grief, regret, and shame. And she didn't have time for that.

She had already done too much. She had already hurt Nico for this. She already threatened others for this.

She already killed for this.

Thalia gave a shaky exhale. "I've gone too far," she said, her voice breaking. "Too far."

Reyna extended her arm even more, as far as it could go. She seemed pleading. "That's not true. You can still come back from this."

Thalia looked at Reyna's hand. As she did, a million thoughts swirled through her head. What if she gave up? Would her mother leave her if she quit? What would the Olympians do to her once they caught her? If she died right now, would she be able to see Annabeth sooner?

Why does Reyna care so much?

"I can't," Thalia whispered over the roar of the flames.

Reyna, however, seemed to hear more than Thalia could ever whisper. "You can. You are Thalia. You can do anything."

Thalia wished she had that much confidence in herself. Reyna seemed to have enough confidence for both of them.

"I can't lose you," Reyna said, tears streaking down her face. The tears evaporated as soon as they fell, making Reyna's face steam like she was crying acid. "I can't lose…another sister."

The glowing green and yellow embers from the fire danced in the space between them. Against Thalia's will and logic, her hand moved towards Reyna. It moved up they had their hands towards one another.

At the last second before their hands touched, Thalia saw her mother behind Reyna, shaking her head.

_She's not family, _she imprinted on Thalia's essence.

Her mother was right. Reyna didn't grow up with Thalia. She didn't go through what Thalia went through. She had the nerve to insert herself in Thalia's image of her family, without Thalia's permission.

"You're no family," Thalia growled. Reyna's eyes widened as a chill of frustration flowed from Thalia's heart to her fingertips. Lightning sprayed from her hand, striking Reyna straight in the core and sending her flying back through the wall of fire. Thalia subsequently heard a small _thunk_.

Thalia stood there for a second, dumbfounded, as the flames threatened to close in on her. The heat from the lightning made her fingertips tingle.

"Reyna," Thalia whispered. She didn't know what happened there. The lightning just spilled out of her, with no regard to Reyna's life.

She may have just killed one of her closest friends.

Thalia felt her confusion and fear corrupt the environment around her. As she did, she felt like she was growing in size. More accurately, she was growing in essence, as her sphere of control began to spread out from her at the center. Thalia then clapped, sending a gust of wind out from her, blowing back the flames around her for a second. Thalia used the opening to dive through and make it to the wall of the ship.

She saw nothing, though. There was nobody there. Thalia looked over the edge, only to see the churning black and blue of the Atlantic below.

Thalia began to drop her spear and take off her boots. She needed to jump in and save Reyna. She just prayed the sea wouldn't get to her first.

"Thalia. What are you doing?"

Thalia froze to see her mother in the fire, holding a glass of wine. "I'm saving my friend."

"Saving your friend? After you killed her?"

Thalia's heart was ripped from her body. "K-killed? I didn't kill her."

"No?" Beryl mused. "Then, where is she?"

Thalia looked around, hoping to catch some glance or clue of Reyna's whereabouts. It was to no avail, though, as her mother began to saunter closer. "She's nowhere to be found. Her body is not anywhere, and the last time you saw her, she was flying into Greek fire. Where do you think she is?"

Thalia's own face began to steam with the vapor of her tears. She fell to her knees, glaring at her hands.

"Thalia?" Her mother asked.

"Why did I do that?" Thalia was trembling, despite the very warm environment.

Her mother stood over her. "Because she was keeping you from who you were meant to be."

"A killer?" Thalia whispered.

"An avenger," her mother corrected.

If this was what being an avenger meant, she didn't like it at all. She wanted to save lives.

"I was never supposed to be this," Thalia cried, her voice lost to the flames. "I'm supposed to be saving people, not _hurting _them."

"You must be this person," her mother said sharply. "Otherwise, you will never be able to make the difference you seek. How can you save future generations without doing what is necessary now?"

Thalia took another look in the water. "Reyna!" she screamed, hoping that her former ally would suddenly resurface.

"Leave it to the Fates. If it was meant to be," Beryl started, massaging Thalia's shoulders. "Then Reyna will survive, yes?"

"Artemis," Thalia whispered. "I know you can hear me."

Her mother backed up, and Thalia felt an uncomfortably warm presence in her body, like Artemis was committed to letting Thalia know how she disapproved of her actions. "Artemis. Save your Hunter. Please."

"Praying to that miserable excuse for a goddess?" Beryl chided.

"Not praying," Thalia said. "Pleading."

"Never prostate yourself to others just because of what others call them," Beryl advised. "In other news, congratulations on your victory."

"Victory? I can't even see anyth-"

Thalia's sentence was interrupted by the _fwoosh _of a fire extinguisher, spraying silvery water foam everywhere. Thalia watched as the Greek fire around her was washed out by the _Pandos _and the Surfer demigod from earlier. Their clothes looked tattered and half-charred.

After a few rounds on the deck, the fire was no more. Thalia was able to see clearly. The ship seemed mostly still intact, although it looked like a husk of itself rather than the impressively large titan it initially was. There were a few Hunter bodies on the ground. Most of the Primes were still standing, though many Germani guards' corpses lay on the deck. Thalia counted six Primes, four Germani guards, one _Pandos, _and about ten demigods in a crowd near the bow of the ship. About half of those individuals were sporting pretty serious injuries.

Thalia took a few steps towards it before her vision started to get woozy. Thalia realized she never took the arrow out her shoulder, and her lightheadedness was probably not a great sign. However, she limped towards the gathering. As the survivors saw Thalia coming, they parted to make a way for her.

Lying on the ground, coughing up blood, was Miranda Gardiner. Clarisse cradled her, begging her to stay with them. The hole in her chest was so big that Thalia could see straight through her to the deck. Miranda's breathing was starting to stagger, and Clarisse began holding her closer.

"Don't leave me here. Come on. Stay with me, girl," Clarisse whispered. The other survivors hung their heads in deference.

_Artemis, _Thalia thought. _I will turn myself in if you save her. I promise you, if you save Miranda, I will give myself up. _

She meant it. Thalia knew the daughter of Demeter's injury was a lost cause, which forced her to turn to the divine. This time, she prayed. She prayed with all her heart that Miranda's life could somehow be salvaged. She prayed so hard that her closed fists began to draw blood.

Miranda reached up and stroked Clarisse's face. "We did it," she said weakly. "Tell Hylla I'm sorry."

"You can tell her when you see her," Clarisse sniffed.

"Tell Sherman-"

Thalia heard a light choking noise and watched as Miranda's spirit escaped her body. Her body went limp, and her head lolled to the side, expressionless and open-eyed. Her lifeless body was staring straight at Thalia.

A hush remained on the deck of the ship. Rain began to fall, masking Clarisse's tears. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Thalia didn't know what to do. She felt lost. Miranda died because of her. And that was something that was unforgivable.

"Now what?" Doris asked, looking out into the sky.

Thalia turned to see an airborne figure just below the clouds. It was hard to see through the downpour, but Thalia could see that it was coming towards them, at record speed.

_Artemis. _Thalia had a flash of Artemis' chariot, piloted by none other than the goddess herself, bending space and time and speeding towards her.

Thalia let the air around her feel what she was feeling, and felt the winds grieve as well. The will of the winds and Thalia's own will intersected into one, and she felt herself take control. Thalia directed the wind to blow the rain towards the object in the sky, and concentrated the winds in one funnel. She then forced the winds to go faster and faster until it began to grow into a full-grown twister over the water. Once the tornado connected with the clouds, Thalia felt herself relinquish control. The twister had taken a life of its own. It moved through the Atlantic towards the object, pushing the _Queen Cassiopeia _further away from the object.

As one last blow, Thalia channeled all her anger into the storm, and watched as a gargantuan lightning bolt flashed from the sky. The lightning struck the object in the sky, and Thalia watched the twister consume it and shroud it from view.

"That ought to keep her entertained," Thalia muttered. She knew it wouldn't kill Artemis, per se, but it would at least slow her down.

Despite the successful hit, her crew seemed defeated in the rain. Thalia also saw the remaining guests file back onto the ship, looking around at the carnage. A few of them stepped into the pool warily.

The _Pandos _slunk up to her. "Where to now, lord?"

Thalia could see shore in the distance. All of this had led her here. If she survived whatever that was in the sky, she would be that much closer to her goal. "Olympus."


	14. Salvation

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Percy

"Someone has died," Calypso breathed. She put a hand on her chest and stumbled to the wall of the cockpit to steady herself.

Percy believed it. Explosive thunder roared over the Atlantic, seasoning the storm that raged out at sea. Lightning flashed in the clouds behind them. Rain fell from storm clouds above the _Argo III._ The conditions looked fatal for any poor soul that happened to be on the ocean that evening.

Leo cut the wheel, piloting Festus through a cloud. As they emerged through the other end, the _Argo III_'s crew caught a glimpse of a gargantuan cruise ship, with holes in the side like a gigantic gorilla was using it for drums. The ship seemed to be slanted, like it was off-kilter and barely hanging together.

As soon as they saw the ship, though, the rain seemed to change directions and buffet the _Argo III. _It was like the storm was designed to protect the ship. Rain sheared against the windshield, eliminating any chance for them to see where they were going.

This storm was too strong and too unnatural to be organic. There was no hint of a storm miles back, but there was a huge storm where they were.

"Thalia's on the ship," Percy judged.

"Festus," Leo projected. Percy swore he heard a bit of nervousness in Leo's voice, like he was having flashbacks to Jason's powers. "Hey, buddy. Look alive. Heat shields and Rain-X."

A low grumble emanated from Festus. The windshield began to vibrate and glow red like a circus mirror. The lingering water began to steam off the window. The fresh rain hitting Festus' vision shields slid off like beads of quicksilver. For a moment, their vision was restored, albeit a little blurry.

The thing they saw next, however, made Percy wish that he was blind once more. A tornado was now in play, starting from the ship and headed their way. The tornado was so large, that the top of it scraped the clouds and the bottom raged on the ocean's surface. Instead of the dark gray color most tornadoes are, this one gave off an eerie blue glow.

"A tornadic waterspout," Piper muttered. "Just what we needed tonight."

"A what? Isn't that just a tornado?"

"A tornadic waterspout just refers to a tornado over water," Frank explained.

Percy frowned. "Then why not just call it a water tornado?"

Hazel turned towards the two of them. "Well, when you think of a water tornado, what do you think of?"

"A tornado made out of water," Leo yelled back from the pilot's seat.

Percy pointed to Leo in agreement. "He's got a point."

"Yeah, that's not made out of water. That's made out of wind," Hazel pointed out.

As she said that, Leo cursed. "_Anemoi Thuellai, _10:00 and 2:00."

Percy looked out of Festus' large left eye to see several currents of wind break out from the waterspout and form into stormy gray horses with bodies and eyes that crackled and surged with electricity. One of the horses made eye contact with Percy.

"Uh…good horse?" Percy projected.

However, the _anemoi thuellai _bared its teeth like Blackjack's twisted cousin and dissolved into a column of wind. It then barreled into Festus, blowing the entire _Argo III _off-course. Festus teetered in the air. Beeps and noises alerted Leo to several unnamed problems as the dragon ship attempted to weather the storm.

"Thalia didn't create those, did she?" Grover raised his voice over the noise.

"Doubt it," Piper said. "I met a _venti _before. Storm spirits. They're too…autonomous and chaotic, I guess? I don't think Thalia's strong enough to create a _venti _on her own."

Even as Piper finished the sentence, Percy saw doubt cast onto her face. Thalia was pretty powerful, and the entire group knew it. Logically, she was as powerful as Jason was, and he was no joke. However, with more years on her and more time to hone her powers, Thalia may be even more formidable.

Even in the _Argo III, _Percy began to notice the smell of ozone. The scent only happened when Thalia was about to-

_KRA-KOOM! _

A huge electrical force struck Festus and knocked the entire crew on their butts. The _Argo III _lost all power. The cockpit turned dark as Festus began to fall towards the ocean. Percy's stomach jumped up into his chest. He instinctively reached out for anything to steady him. Instead, he ended up grabbing Frank, who grabbed Hazel, who grabbed a lever in the room.

"If Festus hits the water at this height, we're toast!" Leo yelled.

The _Argo III _crew began to hold onto one another for security. Percy felt the ocean getting closer to them. They were starting to pick up velocity. Leo was right- they weren't going to make it if they hit the ocean at that speed. From their height, a collision would feel like hitting pure concrete. Festus would explode on contact.

Percy closed his eyes. He wouldn't be able to see the water, but he could feel it. The ocean tugged at his gut, and Percy willed the water to follow his direction. It did, and Percy felt himself in control. He didn't see it, but he _felt _the water directly beneath them turn into a whirlpool.

Festus fell straight into the mouth of the whirlpool opening. Percy felt the dragon's impact from both the ocean and the _Argo III. _Percy widened and deepened the whirlpool so Festus' encounter with the water started gradually and picked up in depth and intensity.

Miraculously, Festus' fall was broken, like he had jumped from only 60 feet above rather than 60,000. As Festus went underwater, all Percy could feel was cold. He couldn't see anything either, as the _Argo III_'s cockpit was still pitch black.

Then, Leo's voice cut through the darkness. "Festus, backup power, and _Helgoland _procedure."

Percy saw the lights in the cockpit turn light blue. Piper's eyes were nearly violet in the glow. Hazel opened a hatch by Leo's feet, and began fumbling with a few wires. After a few seconds, the external cameras came back on, and Percy was able to see Festus' progress. Instead of red eyes, Festus' eyes were now a solid, glowing blue. Rays of light shined from the dragon's eyes like headlights as he began to scan underwater.

Leo pressed a button, but nothing happened. Leo tried again, but nothing happened. Festus simply blinked slowly and gave a huge yawn. Percy saw a few schools of trout see the yawn and immediately change directions.

"Festus' underwater operations are working, but not his flight systems," Leo said, scratching his chin. "The fall must have dislodged something."

Calypso looked at Leo. "The generator?"

"No," Leo muttered, chewing on his seatbelt harness. "If that or the battery wasn't working, then Festus wouldn't even be on right now. We'd simply be sinking, and then we'd freeze. But he's on right now. We just need to reboot his flight systems so we can get out of here."

Hazel stepped forward and pointed at something at the tip of Festus' headlights. "What's that there?"

Leo squinted through the window, then began rummaging through his tool belt. Calypso, however, grabbed a cube off the ground and nudged Leo's shoulder. Leo took the cube, and put it in a slot by the steering mechanism. The cube began to glow and projected a blue hexagon.

"Festus. Zoom and depict that object."

The hologram morphed into a miniature version of Festus' line of vision. On the hologram, Percy saw the object clarify until they could tell exactly what it was- a body.

Frank blinked. "Holy-"

"Oh, no," Grover said. "Are they alive?"

Calypso closed her eyes. Percy felt a bit of energy creep into his heart. Others seemed to feel something similar, as they began to either shiver or touch their chest.

"They're still alive," Calypso judged.

Leo's cockpit chair turned with a rusty squeak. He put his hands out to Calypso. "What did I tell you about doing things Festus can do? I'm trying to break him in."

Calypso put her hands up in concession, and gestured for Leo to go ahead.

"Festus," Leo called. "Scan for life forms. Twenty mile radius."

Festus turned, scanning the ocean for life. As he did so, the hologram began to populate with about fifteen blinking red dots. Towards the end of the smattering of dots was a pulsing black dot, labeled, _YOU ARE HERE, DUDE! _

Leo stood and pointed at the hologram. "There are several life forms down here. They're still alive."

"How do we know they're not just fish or other sea animals?" Grover asked.

Calypso nodded, like she had asked the same question beforehand. "Festus' tracking is trained to detect certain mental electrical signals and heartbeat rhythms consistent with humans and humanoids. It can't quite detect non-human creatures-"

"-but that's a work in progress," Leo finished.

"So these are definitely humans?" Percy asked.

Leo stretched. "That, or fish really good at pretending to be humans."

Percy's mouth made an _o. _"That's…encouraging."

"What if these bodies were left behind by Thalia?" Piper said, looking out into the sea at the body rather than at the holograph.

The room turned colder than it was when they first hit the water. If Thalia was capable of _this, _there was no telling where she was mentally. They needed to stop her. But, the people out there were still alive.

"Those people are still alive. We need to save them," Percy said. Goosebumps crawled up his skin. "Leo, can you patch up Festus?"

Leo looked behind him. "Yeah, but I don't quite know what the problem is. We may be here a while as I investigate. Percy and Frank, can you all go out and explore?"

Percy and Frank nodded.

Leo nodded in return. "The dots seem to be concentrated towards a spot a few miles out. A few stragglers, however, are a bit further out to sea, closer to us. Just keep saving bodies until you get to the pile of them, and then head on back. Calypso, can you watch their back as they do this?"

"Yes," Calypso said. She nodded at Percy. "Shall we?"

Percy's response caught in his throat. It was weird to see her directly address him, and he had trouble even responding to her. After what happened between them in Ogygia and even in Tartarus, he was in a weird spot regarding her. He definitely couldn't blame her, but…he didn't feel completely comfortable with her either.

Frank saved the day, though, clapping Percy on the back and leading him out of the cockpit. Percy then followed Frank towards the back of the _Argo III. _Once they got there, they found Calypso leaning against three human-sized steel pods. They looked like silver eggs that Polyphemus would eat.

Frank blinked, and looked behind him before returning his gaze on Calypso. "How-how did you get here? What did you just do?"

Calypso ignored him, and climbed into one of the pods. Percy and Frank exchanged a look before following her lead. Calypso pressed a button, and the three of them were lowered a bit before being shot out into the ocean like the world's most fatal roller coaster. The steel containers opened, and Percy felt the cool of the Atlantic Ocean all around him. Suddenly, he felt like someone had injected him with power and gave him a class of pure caffeine to go with it. Percy's slight headache left him, as well the soreness of his ankles. As he met with the ocean, he could sense all the currents and waves, as well as the fish and creatures of the sea.

Percy let loose. He coursed through the water like a torpedo, flying towards the body in Festus' searchlights.

_Slow down, dude! _

Percy turned behind him to see a dolphin swimming behind. The dolphin opened and closed its mouth, like it was practicing controlling its facial features. Calypso held on to its fin, with an air bubble around her face.

Percy saluted. "Frank." Shapeshifting was one of the coolest powers Frank had. It almost made Percy jealous, how Frank could turn into a shark and Percy was just the fish whisperer.

Percy trained his attention back to the body, and approached it with care. It was a girl, falling slowly. Her arms and legs were suspended, falling through the ocean like a wraith. Even in the depths of the sea, Percy could see that she wore a silver parka. The girl had a luminescent aura around her.

Percy didn't know was from the moonlight refracting through the waves or coming from the girl's own spirit.

Percy swam below the girl and put his hands out like he was catching a pillow. The girl floated slowly into his arms until she landed. Percy placed his hand on her neck, surprised to find a fairly strong pulse. He closed his eyes.

_Come on. Don't fail me now. _

A large air bubble formed from Percy's hand, pushing the surrounding water away from the girl. A few seconds later, she was completely encased in the air bubble like groceries in a plastic bag. Percy looked at Calypso and Frank, and gently pushed the bubble towards them.

Calypso put her hand out, and the air bubble became surrounded by an ethereal green aura. The bubble started to swim beside Frank and Calypso, despite their rapid swimming speed.

Percy continued swimming. He felt his muscles growing stronger, and his attention honing on the one task at hand. He passed by a flock of clownfish, who all greeted him jovially.

_My prince!_

_Hello, there! _

_What do you do to your hair? _

Percy waved and continued to jet through the water. Both Leo's initial directions and Percy's own senses were telling him to go east, where the rest of the bodies were.

Percy found another woman wearing similar garb to the first. However, this woman was being surrounded by several sea turtles. One of the sea turtles turned to Percy.

_Who's this chick?_

"Chick?" Percy asked. "What is this, 2006?"

Percy swam towards them, and they made a path for him. Percy approached the woman, also wearing a silver parka. He recognized that fashion anywhere.

"She's a Hunter. A gang of powerful warriors that serve Artemis," Percy said. "You don't want to get on their bad side."

As he got closer, he saw that her legs snapped in an unnatural direction. Percy winced.

_Yeah, I know, _one of the sea turtles said. _She's messed up pretty bad. Me and the guys were just thinking about what to do. _

Percy sighed. "Well, I have some friends coming through. Heads up."

Percy pointed behind him, and watched the sea turtles erupt in _oohs _and _ahhs _as Frank and Calypso came swimming through.

Percy turned. "Calypso. Is there any way we can heal her up?"

Calypso examined the body. "I would," she started. Her voice, this deep underwater and in an air bubble, sounded like it was coming from a poorly charged megaphone. "But I need the body on a solid surface. I must push down on her, but there is not much leverage down here."

Percy looked around. He couldn't find any surfaces to float under the Hunter, to allow Calypso to heal them. However, one of the turtles swam up.

_Yo. My guy Rufus is the best here is. He's one of the Hawksbills. Go ahead, show him what you can do. _

_Me? _One of the sea turtles swam away a bit. _Why me?_

_Because you're special. Come on, the pretty lady is counting on you. _

Rufus hesitated for a beat and turned to Percy. Percy nodded and tried to give an underwater smile. "Being a Hawksbill does sound pretty cool. What does a Hawksbill turtle do again?"

Rufus swam up and positioned his shell underneath the Hunter. Like switching on a nightlight, Percy, Frank, and Calypso watched as Rufus' shell began to glow a neon green-yellow. The Hunter sunk a little bit more until she fell onto Rufus' shell. His glow provided almost a backlight for Calypso's procedure.

_Is this good enough, my lady? _

Calypso looked at Percy. Her hair was suspended in the air like branches of a tree.

Percy cleared his throat. "He asked if this is good enough."

Calypso looked around for a second, then nodded. "Yes, it is. There just must be some resistance when I push down."

_Resistance? No problem, _Rufus said, suddenly producing confidence. _Boys! _

The turtles all dove down one after the other, stacking themselves underneath Rufus.

_Push, _Rufus projected. The turtles began to swim upwards as Calypso pushed down on the Hunters' legs. Calypso began to sing, a sad, soft tune in a language Percy couldn't understand. As she did, the Hunter's aura began to glow a stronger silver. Her legs began to shift, click, and crack back into place, like sliding Legos. Finally, with one final _snap, _her legs looked okay.

The turtles disbanded from their tower, and Calypso floated the Hunter body into the rescue bubble.

The turtles erupted in applause, whooping and giving each other underwater high-fives. Percy had to smile too, doing his best to clap against the pressure of the water. "Very nice, guys. We have to go save some more people, so we have to go. Thank you all so much, though!"

_Yo, can you tell Poseidon that we helped you? _

Percy nodded. "I'll put in a good word for Rufus and his boys."

The turtles all celebrated, and Percy continued east.

As he was swimming, he felt something come up on his left. Percy turned to see Frank, racing to keep up with him.

"Frank, are you racing me?"

_Who, me? Of course not. _

Frank then poured on the speed, leaping out of the water with Calypso on his fin.

Percy grinned and leapt out with a splash as well, enjoying the sudden flush of oxygen. For the moment he was in the air, he felt like himself again- like he felt before the incident. The rain had slowed to a light drizzle, and the sky had turned a light purple.

Percy entered the water once more and he and Frank raced. For most of the race, Percy was just ahead of Frank. He had to rely on his own swimming abilities, though. Even though he wanted to manipulate the currents so they gave him an advantage, Frank was so close to Percy that the currents would give him an advantage as well.

Frank veered towards Percy and knocked him towards a school of clownfish. Percy fell through the group and ignored their surprisingly profane curses. As he did, though, he saw Frank cast ahead. A few more seconds, and he would be out of reach.

Percy pushed forward, this time pushing the currents along with him. He willed himself to go faster and faster, until he could no longer feel the water around him. He was a blur, a comet shooting through the cosmos of the ocean. He pushed through until he passed Frank and Calypso. As he passed, Frank whooped.

Percy then saw something that made him stop in his tracks; thirteen other silvery bodies glowing in the water like white sheets. Ship planks, furniture, and bed frames floated down with them. It was like a boat full of Hunters had exploded, damning them to a watery grave. Percy wondered if this had anything to do with the missing chunk of the boat they saw earlier.

Percy turned to see Frank, who was already gathering a few of them.

For the next few minutes, Percy, Frank, and Calypso gathered up the Hunters and stuffed them in the air bubble.

Once they were all collected, Percy looked at Frank. "Is that all?"

Frank was focused on something behind him. _Percy? _

Percy turned to see movement towards the surface, about two hundred feet away. He shot off after the movement, surfacing only his head to see a few large men on the remnants of a boat. They wore breastplates and armor, like they were the B-team of Sparta. All three of them had large beards, rough faces, and muscles that screamed no carbs.

Next to them, on the dilapidated raft, was the body of Reyna.

"Hey," Percy yelled out.

The men looked towards him.

Percy realized he didn't quite think this through. "How-how's it going?"

Percy could have sworn one of the men was drooling. He figured he needed to approach this a different way.

Percy willed a current to propel him out of the water so he was standing on the surface of it. The men's eyes bugged out of their heads. They all grabbed their spears and leveled them at Percy.

"You a god?" one of the men asked.

"No," Percy said. "Just a guy. But I need that woman on your raft."

The other two men scowled. "The woman is ours. She and the invaders must be collected and brought to the Empress for judgment."

"The Empress?" Percy felt the cool, shifting surface underneath his feet. He took a step and willed the water to harden under him.

"Yes. She leads the Triumvirate."

"You mean Thalia?"

One of the men bared his teeth like a hyena. "Do not speak her name. She is Empress."

"She's Thalia. She likes burgers from McHale's, punk rock, and hurting people. She told you to kill Reyna? And the Hunters?"

The men looked at one another. "We were told to restrain them," one of them answered. "To stop them from shooting."

"From shooting?" Percy asked. At this point in time, Frank and Calypso surfaced. It must have freaked out the men, because two of them yelled and threw their spears at them. Luckily, Frank and Calypso submerged before the spears could impale them.

Percy turned his attention to them once more. "I need that body."

"We cannot. This is property of the Triumvirate Holdings."

"People are not property," Percy said.

"Yet, you want this one?" one of them asked.

Percy felt like this was going in circles. "Where's your Empress, anyway?"

The three men remained silent, looking everywhere but at Percy standing on the water.

"She left you, didn't she," Percy said.

"We do not question our Empress' decisions," one of them replied.

"All right, that's enough." Percy released his hold on the water and fell back underwater. He dove about fifty feet deeper, oriented himself so he was underneath their craft, and began to shoot upwards at full speed. Percy braced his knuckles as he broke the surface, but willed the water to support him in this venture.

With a _SCRAACK, _Percy split the raft in two. The three men got flung into the water. Percy's momentum carried him ten feet in the air, before he fell back into the water. Percy spotted Reyna's body by one of the men, who was swimming towards it.

Before Percy could go after them, he felt two sets of hands pull him down and try to drown him. As his head was being flung underwater, Percy fought the urge to sigh. It had been a while since he fought against people that didn't know what he could do. It almost made these fights kind of unfair.

With a thought, Percy willed a whirlpool to form beneath them, bringing all three of them underwater. The men began to thrash and panic while in the water. Percy delivered a strong punch to one of them. The man was forced to exhale, and he quickly lost consciousness.

The other tried to focus on swimming to the surface, but he wasn't quite far enough. Percy swam up from underneath the water, delivering an uppercut to his chin that lay him out. The man's head snapped backwards, and he went limp in the water as well.

Percy created another air bubble, and pushed the two of them in it. Frank and Calypso joined him under the water.

_Only one more to go, _Frank said telepathically.

Percy propelled himself towards the other individual, but made sure to stay under the water. He was holding Reyna's body by the neck, and he looked paranoid. He was looking around frantically, probably for any sign of the guy who could walk on water.

"Listen to me! Stay back, or I crush her right now." The guy's voice sounded muffled from under the water, but Percy understood the sentiment as clear as day.

Percy stopped moving as quickly, and dove under the water. He quieted his movements, as well as his breathing. Silently, he swam towards him as he assessed the situation. He was holding Reyna in a headlock, close to his body.

It was a good call. No matter what Percy did, the guy could probably maintain his grip on Reyna and attack her.

If Percy sunk him, he would probably try to attack Reyna before he drowned. If Percy attacked him head on, he would try to choke her out. If Percy tried to surprise him and failed, then Reyna would be in trouble once more.

Percy knew that he could probably get him to drop Reyna by manipulating the blood in his body. However, he promised Annabeth he would never do so again. And a promise was a promise.

Then, Percy felt something coming up from underwater. It was coming _fast, _and coming right underneath the warrior. He dared not break eye contact from the guy, for Reyna's sake. Percy thought about warning him about the attack coming from beneath him, but decided against it.

Rather, Percy needed to make a distraction, so this attack would catch him off guard.

Percy willed the water around him to explode. With a tugging of his gut, Percy used the water to hold him up, as all the seawater within a two mile radius rose from the Atlantic and swirled around him in a vortex. Percy pointed at the guy, and put on his best intimidating stare. "Release her."

The warrior's mouth dropped as Percy flexed his powers. He hesitated for a second, then yelled, "This is for Empre-"

A swordfish sliced through his grip in a perfectly executed leap. Percy used the moment to discard his display, fall back into the ocean, and pull Reyna towards him using the currents. Once Reyna was in his arms, he dove down into the ocean. Spears and swords weren't too effective underwater, so he needed to get her as far down as he could.

After a few seconds, Percy dared to look back. Upon doing so, saw the swordfish morph into an octopus and pull the warrior down into the air bubble that Calypso was maintaining. Once he was in, the octopus shifted into Frank, who saluted to Percy.

Percy nodded at him. "Let's go back?"

Frank nodded and morphed into a dolphin once more. The two of them waited until Calypso completed her spell on the bad guy bubble, and joined them. Together, the three of them pushed west until they reached the still Festus.

In the twilight and under the stars, Festus looked like a hidden treasure. Percy, Frank, and Calypso swam until they were right in Festus' headlights. The three of them waved until Festus' mouth opened up. A suction ray began pulling them slowly in, as well as the air bubble containing the unconscious Hunters. Percy left the air bubble with the warriors out in the Atlantic. Their Empress would come back for them at some point. Or some fisherman would have a hell of a surprise.

Once they were effectively swallowed by Festus, they fell down a chute that led them to the lower levels of the _Argo III. _The Hunter bodies followed soon, and Percy, Frank, and Calypso found themselves dodging the Hunters shooting out of the tunnel.

A few minutes later, Percy, Frank, and Calypso had each of the Hunter bodies lying on the cabin beds in the residential rooms. The first one was Reyna. Percy carried her into Annabeth's room and set her down onto the small bunk. Reyna seemed uncharacteristically frail in this state, which threw Percy off for a second. She looked pale, and her hair looked like dark moss. Beads of water clung to her face.

He reached his hand out.

"What do you seek to do?" Calypso asked him.

Percy couldn't answer, as he was focusing on the task at hand. He sensed seawater in her lungs and in her throat. A light tugging pulled at his gut. In turn, he pulled the seawater out of her like removing a parasite. The water came out in a slick rope, and collected in a sphere in the air. With a flick of his hand, Percy dispelled the water onto his clothes.

Reyna coughed a bit, and the color returned to her face. She continued to rest, however, but that was fine with Percy. She needed to rest.

"She must have dry clothes," Calypso pointed out.

Percy pointed to Reyna and though, _Dry. _Suddenly, her clothes became free from all moisture, like her clothes had been ironed right onto her body.

He thought to himself, _Dry. _Suddenly, his clothes became freshly dried.

"Uh, dude?" Frank gestured to himself.

Percy pointed to Frank's and Calypso's clothes as well, and willed them, _Dry. _Their shirt and pants became dry as well.

Grover and Piper rushed into the room. "What happened?" Grover asked. "Are they all right?"

"They're fine," Frank said. "They were stuck in the water. Seems like there was a bad collision, or a fight that ended up happening. It didn't end too well for the Hunters, apparently."

Piper looked at Calypso. "Leo is not quite done with repairs yet. In the meantime, should we get them your homemade healing elixir?"

Calypso thought for a second, and nodded. "I think that would be good. You and I can give it to the Hunters. They should be up and about within the next few hours."

Calypso set a hand on Percy's shoulder. "Percy. Can you remove the water from all of the Hunters' lungs? Doing so may facilitate their healing."

Percy nodded and fought the urge to bow. "Yeah, of course. Grover? You want to join me?"

Piper looked at Grover, who bleated nervously. "Yeah, of course."

The two of them began to go through rooms, collecting seawater out of the Hunters' lungs.

As they finished up the second Hunter's room, Grover shook his head. "Do you think Thalia did this?"

Percy frowned as he pulled some more water out of a Hunter's lungs. This one had a particularly large amount of it in there, like she was chugging seawater before she drowned.

Looking at the damage left behind, it was hard to think that Thalia may have done this. She usually fought from a point of care, not hate. Yet, these Hunters sinking in the Atlantic told a different story- one of calculated anger. Percy wouldn't necessarily put anger past Thalia- she could have quite a temper if someone got on her bad side. He couldn't think of any reason why the Hunters would have gotten on her bad side.

"I don't know," Percy finally answered. "I mean…you know Thalia, don't you? She wouldn't do this."

"I _knew _her," Grover said, blowing a few short notes onto his reed pipes. "I haven't talked to her in a while, honestly. I don't know what she's been going through. I tried to find her the day of the incident, but she was nowhere to be found."

He put the reed pipes back to his mouth and played an energetic, frilly tune, one that reminded Percy of new flowers springing from the ground during springtime. Grover caught Percy staring after a while.

"A song of life," Grover explained. "I figured it wouldn't hurt."

Percy couldn't argue with that. A song of life was something that they needed, especially after everything going on. The two of them went through the rooms in relative silence, while Grover played his tune. It may have been his eyes playing tricks on him, but he swore that as the song continued, each of the Hunters began to look healthier.

"Grover," Percy asked, as they fixed up the last Hunter. "When Luke, you know, died…what was Thalia like?"

Grover stopped playing his pipes for a second and looked out to the circular window in the room's window. The sky looked even lighter, with strokes of red and pink in the purple landscape.

"Let her tell it, she was okay."

"But what if I let you tell it?" Percy asked.

Grover looked away.

"Come on, G-Man," Percy said. "What happened?"

Grover gave Percy a side-eye glance. Eventually, he sighed. "She was…shattered. She tried to hide it by working as hard as she could under Artemis, which only solidified her position as lieutenant to her current Hunter team and the new Hunters that Zeus had promised her. Do you remember where she was when Luke died?"

Percy thought for a second. "Under a statue, I think."

Grover nodded solemnly. "She didn't even get a chance to see her friend's- _er- _her Luke's final moments. After it happened, she went out into the forest for days, and no one could find her. Then, after a few days, she resurfaced and acted like everything was okay. To this day, no one knew what happened. "

"What?" Percy was dumbfounded. "She just disappeared for no reason and came back without saying anything?"

"Well, it wasn't for no reason," Grover defended.

"Yeah," Percy conceded.

"Don't forget that Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth were like a little family. Losing Luke was like losing some of her family- a piece of herself."

"Well, what brought her back?"

Leo and Piper walked in, and Grover straightened up.

Grover looked to Percy. "You, she, and Annabeth had a get-together planned at a New York burger place."

Grover shuddered. "Burgers," he gagged.

Percy didn't have time to process what Grover had said. He raised his eyebrows at Leo and Piper. "What's up?"

Leo put his thumbs up. "We're good to go. Just had to re-structure some of his wires, create an ion engine, and use some propellant as well."

Grover blinked. "You built a rocket?"

Leo was about to answer, when Piper rolled her eyes. "Yeah. He really did. It'll help serve as a rudimentary flight system for Festus."

"And will get us out of this water," Piper filled in.

Percy folded his arms and nodded. "Sounds good."

Piper put her hand on the forehead of the Hunter on the bed. "I have an idea. Why don't we take these Hunters to Camp Half-Blood?"

Leo tapped his chin with a wrench. "That wouldn't be a bad idea. They have some healers there, and I could have a space to fix Festus up for real."

"Building a literal rocket is not for real?" Percy asked.

Grover nodded. "I think that's a good idea. Let's head to Camp." His eyes widened. "How long have we been gone for since the party?"

Leo, Piper, and Percy collectively shrugged.

Grover ran his hand through his hair and traced his fingers around his horns. He began to turn pale. "Juniper's going to kill me. I told her it would be three hours, tops. We have to go, now."

Percy stared at the floor. He hadn't been to camp since Annabeth's shroud burning, and he wasn't in a rush to go back. However, he couldn't argue with the fact that Camp was an effective safe space- it was probably leagues safer than being a collection of demigods out in the open. Their scent probably made the entire Atlantic light up with signs saying, _Tasty Demigods! Right here! _

Percy looked up to see the three staring at him. They looked expectant, like they were waiting for Percy to say something.

"Uh," Percy started. "Let's do it?"

Piper and Grover nodded, and Leo clapped his hands. "All right, we'll be lifting off soon."

Leo dashed out the room, and Piper beckoned towards the doorway. "You want to watch liftoff?"

Percy and Grover looked at one another. Back at Yancy, they had always talked about sneaking onto a NASA site and watching a rocket lift off in real life. With the craziness that happened since then, it seemed like a pipe dream. Now, they could watch kind of a lift-off, even if it was a bronze dragon rather than a rocket.

Grover's face began to generate the ghost of a smile.

Percy grinned at Piper. "Let's do it."

The _Argo III _crew gathered in the cockpit and watched Leo flip several switches. The dashboard began to glow red and hum with energy. Leo pulled a lever that Percy was fairly sure wasn't there before. Festus began to whir and hum. Percy watched the external camera as Festus' back legs and knees extended and jutted out from each other. Festus' wing designs began to spin and create energy turbines. Engines revealed themselves from his legs as well, and Festus began to slowly lift out the water. The entire _Argo III _began to shake and rise. Festus took off, leaving several trails of hot gases.

Leo clicked the glowing blue cube, and it pulled up a navigation map. "We're back up in the air, people. Take your seats, because _Captain Valdez _will take good care of you."

Calypso threw her arms around Leo, while Piper clapped his shoulder.

"Nice job, man," Percy smiled.

Festus chirped and roared with happiness as he began to flap his wings experimentally. After a while, they were thousands of feet in the air, flying out of the Atlantic and towards the Long Island Sound.

Percy left the cockpit, and returned to Annabeth's room. He saw Reyna in the bed, and suddenly felt a little weird about being there. However, once he looked out the window, he couldn't believe how beautiful the sky was. The hum of the air conditioning was consistent enough to make Percy begin to nod off.

He couldn't stop thinking about Thalia, though. He had never thought about how Thalia felt when Luke had died, and he wouldn't make the same mistake now. Thalia must have been torn apart since the incident, and no one has been there for her. She had left the Hunters, she fought Nico, turned away from Percy, and was now fighting anyone that tried to stop her. She even struck Festus with a lightning bolt, nearly stranding them in the middle of the ocean.

Grover had said that when Luke died, Thalia had disappeared for days, and came back only for their burger outing at McHale's. Thalia needed friends in her life, and she had none right now. He doubted that those huge men with spears were the best influences on her right now.

Injuries healed. Hunters were immortal. But death is final. He needed to stop her, before she did something permanent.

A footstep sounded behind him. Percy turned to see Hazel, standing at the doorway with her arms crossed. Her eyes looked strangely focused for so early in the morning. "Percy."

Percy blinked. He felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows again. "Am I…in trouble?"

Hazel's face broke into a smile. "No, not at all. But when was the last time you slept?"

Percy thought back to when that last time was- over 24 hours ago. "I don't know if you want to know the answer."

"Exactly. We have a few hours before we get to Camp. Why don't we all get some sleep?"

The way Hazel said it, it seemed like she wasn't giving him a choice. It was like she was offering him the option of either going to sleep normally, or having her put her to sleep with a well-placed kick.

Percy nodded. "Probably a good idea. But the Hunters have the beds here, so I'm not too sure where to go."

Hazel shrugged. "Most people have unfolded some sleeping bags in the mess hall. It'll be like a big sleepover. Come on."

Percy couldn't help but think that Camp Jupiter was thriving under Hazel's leadership. He followed her out the room, into the mess hall, into a blue and green sleeping bag, and right to sleep.


	15. Dreams

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Thalia

As Thalia fell asleep on one of the Holdings' undoubtedly gross mattresses, she felt herself returning to the soil. She felt like she was back at Half-Blood Hill again, spreading her roots and weaving into the ground. Thalia's consciousness then began to float- out of her body and away from this world. She felt herself permeating into whatever dreams were made of.

_In her dream, she was at the Baltimore Harbor. The water at the Harbor served as the focal point for the metropolitan area. Skyscrapers, restaurants, and aquariums surrounded it like a nest. The two of them were on a large hill overlooking the Harbor. Behind them was a little park, decorated with tiny sidewalks, trees, and park benches. _

_Luke chased a young Annabeth around Thalia. Annabeth bobbed and weaved, opting to vault a nearby memorial of a Fort McHenry-era cannon. She then crouched behind it. Thalia saw Luke gave her a wink. He then straightened up and tap his chin with his finger. His charcoal red shirt rippled in the breeze. Though it had a few rips in it, he somehow still looked good. _

"_Hmm," Luke surmised exaggeratedly. "Where could Annabeth be?" _

_The wind carried the sound of Annabeth's muffled laughter right to Thalia's ears. She felt herself try to suppress a smile as Luke began to creep around the cannon. "Could she be…here?" _

_Luke popped his head on the other side of the cannon, but quickly stiffened. He stood and frowned at Thalia. "Where is she?" _

_Thalia blinked. "What do you mean? She-" Thalia mouthed, climbed over there. _

_Luke shook his head. He looked panicked, like this was no longer a joke. "No, she's not here." _

_Thalia's heart began to drum and began to pump anxiety through her body rather than blood. She couldn't lose Annabeth, especially not in this world. _

"_Annabeth," Thalia called. "Annabeth!" _

_Thalia scanned the park behind them. There was no sign of Annabeth. Thalia's hand crept towards her spear, and saw Luke also scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary. _

_Thalia frantically turned to Luke. "Where is she?!" she nearly yelled. _

_He shrugged, but his pants betrayed him. Out of the corner of her eye, Thalia noticed Luke's left pant leg move, but against the wind rather than with it. Thalia's lips tightened as she stepped to Luke. He was only a few inches taller than her, but Thalia felt like a mother as she discerned the meaning of Luke's unreadable expression. _

_Thalia stepped past Luke, only to see Annabeth crouching down behind the statue. Annabeth looked up at Luke, and the two of them couldn't hold it in any longer. They burst out into laughter, as Thalia crossed her arms. _

"_Good one, dumb and dumber," Thalia grumbled. _

_Annabeth pounced up and hugged Thalia's legs. "You found me!" _

_Thalia shook her head and tried to push Annabeth off. "Uh-uh. No hugs for tricksters like yourself." _

_Thalia then felt Luke hug her from behind. "You found her!" he exclaimed. Thalia heard a hint of joy in his voice, like he was enjoying being a kid again. _

_She tried to ignore how close Luke was to her. Instead, she cleared her throat and said, "Uh-oh…I'm…I'm falling!" _

_Thalia started to shift her center of balance so she was leaning towards the hill. Luke began to pull her back, but Thalia took his hand in hers. Luke got the message, and slowly began to push against Thalia. _

_Annabeth began to push against her, grunting. "Stop falling, you big dummy! Why are you so…heavy…" _

_Thalia grinned and continued to lean. Annabeth could've darted out from under Thalia, leaving Thalia to fall down the hill. However, Annabeth stayed there, trying to save Thalia from a grassy fate. _

_Finally, Annabeth couldn't hold it any longer. Thalia leaned past the tipping point, and the two of them fell to the ground. Before Annabeth could get back up, Thalia wrestled Annabeth to the ground. The two of them were met by a wall of Luke, who barreled into them from behind. The three of them tumbled down the steep hill in a ball of laughter, screaming, and grunting. _

_They ended their descent hard. Though Thalia hit rough ground and scraped herself, she used her legs to flip Annabeth over her and onto a soft patch of grass. Luke fell into Thalia and both of them fell onto the sidewalk. Luke sprung up when he saw Annabeth's face. _

"_You…did that…on purpose!" Annabeth scowled. _

_Luke ran a hand through his hair and gave a nervous laugh. His eyes flashed from Thalia to Annabeth. "Of course I did." _

_Annabeth growled and sprung out of the patch of the grass. Luke gave a yelp and ran down the sidewalk. Annabeth was a whirlwind of blonde hair and fury as she chased him around the base of the hill. _

_Thalia stood, wincing as her body screamed back at her. Then, she felt something- something that was not originally in this memory. Thalia felt something behind her, and tried to turn. However, she had trouble doing so, like her dream was trying to hold her back from deviating from the memory depicted in the dream. With one good push, though, Thalia was able to turn around. _

_She didn't necessarily see anything, but she noticed a familiar presence there as clear as if he was right in behind her. _

"_Percy?" _

_**Thalia….where am I?**_

_Thalia jumped and took out her spear. She held it out in front of her and turned in a slow circle until she felt herself pointing at the source of the consciousness. However, she couldn't see anything. _

_The voice was there, though. It wasn't anything she could necessarily hear, nor was it like her mother's messages being imprinted on her soul. It was like Percy decided to cut out the middleman of speaking and having Thalia process by directly injecting his message into her brain. It was strangely intrusive, like Percy could read her thoughts at any point in time. Thalia couldn't stop herself from imagining several barriers to enclose her thoughts._

"_Why are you here?" _

_**I wish I knew. You can put the spear down now. **_

_Thalia lowered her weapon slowly. She tried to ignore the mounting wave of irritation and awkwardness that was beginning to hit her. She hadn't talked to Percy since that one night, and their conversation hadn't necessarily gone the best. Now, he was here. And she didn't know how. _

_**Is this New York? **_

"_It's not New York," Thalia said, while looking around her for Luke and Annabeth. "This is Baltimore." _

_**Maryland? I don't know if I've been here too often. This is cool, I guess. Is that an aquarium?**_

"_Percy, what is going on? How are you in my head? Are you involved in some magic or something?" _

_There was silence for a bit, like Percy had hit mute on a phone call. Then, Percy's voice returned. _

_**I don't think this is magic. I'm asleep on the Argo III with Leo and the crew right now. I mean, Calypso's here, but I don't think she's doing anything weird. **_

_Thalia's breath caught in her throat. "There's an Argo III?" _

_**Yeah. Leo built it inside of Festus. We tried to take Festus to reach you, but met a wall of rain, wind, and lightning. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?**_

_A family passed by Thalia, wearing clothes with the Maryland flag pattern on them. They looked like Maryland pride personified. Thalia stepped out of the way, and thought about what Percy was saying. _

"_Wait, you tried to reach me?" _

_**Yeah. Over the Atlantic. **_

_Thalia felt nauseous. That wasn't Artemis in her chariot- it was Percy, Leo, and other allies, including friends of Jason's. And she had struck them down, sending them everything she could. _

_She could have killed them. _

_She was about to respond when she heard whoops and cheering. She saw Luke and Annabeth rounding the corner. Now, somehow, it was Luke chasing Annabeth around the base of the hill, rather than the other way around. _

_Against her conscious will, Thalia felt herself smile and raise her hand. "Hit the hand for a boost!" she yelled. _

_Annabeth grinned and slapped Thalia's hand, continuing down the sidewalk. Luke followed close behind, sweating and breathing fairly hard. He hit Thalia's hand before she could put it down, and proceeded to chase Annabeth. _

_Thalia watched them turn the corner around the hill. She then felt Percy's essence move towards the sidewalk. Thalia caught a faint whiff of a saltwater breeze. It triggered her nostalgia, making her dream- self shudder. _

_**Hit for a boost? I didn't know you played Mario Kart! **_

"_Shut up," Thalia grumbled. _

_**Was that Luke, though? And Annabeth, back in the day? **_

_Thalia had to rip herself from the restrictions of the dream once more to look at Percy. Again, there was nothing visually there, but his presence was so strong and tangible that she felt like she could reach out and touch him. _

"_Yeah." _

_**This is a memory, **__Percy judged. __**This was back in the day, before you all got to Camp. **_

"_Yup. Nice going, Sherlock," Thalia muttered, as she looked at the base of the hill. The grass there was full and tangled, with a few tiny blue flowers growing from the soil. The breeze blew a bit harder, and she wished she had grabbed her jacket from the bench before falling down the hill. _

_**Huh. I don't usually dream in memories. It's cool that you do. **_

"_I dream almost exclusively in memories," Thalia admitted. "Since Half-Blood Hill…well, the only things to dream about were memories. Along with the occasional precognitive dream or trippy vision. Sometimes I'm in the dream, and sometimes I'm just watching." _

_**They look so happy, **__Percy pointed out. __**It's almost weird to see. **_

"_Not for me," Thalia said. "I lived this. It was weird to see Luke become a camp counselor and watch Annabeth grow up and start becoming interested in dumb boys." _

_**Ouch. **_

"_No offense," Thalia offered, despite the fact that she meant all the offense. "Why were you all trying to reach me, though? Over the ocean?" _

_**Well, **__Percy started, before hesitating for a bit. __**We wanted to get your autograph. It's not every day that you know the Empress of the Triumvirate Holdings. **_

_She felt like she could see those shining green eyes right in front of her, seeing right through any excuse or façade she was thinking about giving. _

_Thalia tousled her own hair. "So you know about that," she replied with a sigh. _

_**Yeah. Reyna told us she was trying to bring you in. We didn't know what was going on, but we knew it couldn't be good if the Hunters were after you. **_

_Thalia felt her face get hot. "And the Hunters are always right, aren't they?" She tugged at the hem of her Simple Plan punk rock t-shirt. _

_**Well, they're not in the wrong too often. Especially when you were still with them. **_

_Thalia didn't answer, but decided to pivot. "You said you were sleeping. Are you dreaming?" _

_**I guess? It feels like other dreams I've had. **_

_There was silence between the two before Percy jumped back in. _

_**Do you think we're dreaming of each other? **_

_Thalia snorted. "Let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe you're dreaming about me and happened to enter my dream." _

_**Well, your dreams need some more security if just anyone can walk in. **_

_Thalia rolled her eyes. "This is my dream, dummy. Not yours. Don't make me beat you up." _

_**As if you could. **_

"_Oh, I did. Remember? At Camp?"_

_Nearly immediately after her declaration, Thalia felt her surroundings turn milky white and dissipate into fog._

* * *

_She watched the surroundings change to that of the combat arena at Camp Half-Blood. Straw dummies were hammered into the arena ground like posts. The sky was a cheerful blue, with no cloud in sight. A small crowd was gathered, funneling food, clothes, and trinkets into a brown pot held by Travis and Connor Stoll. _

_Thalia suddenly found herself in the crowd, watching two warriors in an arena. _

_The first fighter was her. At least, she was a younger Thalia. She was dressed in a breastplate, shin guards, and a helmet. She was holding a sword and a shield. From her expression, Young Thalia seemed to have a considerable amount of distaste for the weapon in her hands. It made sense- swords were never her favorite weapon. They were too limited in their range, and were clunky to manage while holding a shield. _

_From the way young Thalia was holding it, her shield seemed a little too heavy for her and not as well-balanced as Aegis. Young Thalia was not even wearing her bracelet. _

"_Place your bets, people!" Connor yelled. _

"_Zeus vs. Poseidon. The battle of the century," Travis added. _

_Chiron frowned at both of them. His white horse half looked immaculate in the sunlight. His beard and hair were well-groomed, and he looked years younger. His eyes, however, were much older and wiser than any of the campers around him. "This is just a sparring session, Stolls." _

_He cleared his throat and drew his attention back to Young Thalia and her opponent. "All right, you two. Remember, it's just sparring. And no powers," he advised. _

_The crowd groaned in disappointment. _

"_Enough of that," Chiron replied. "You must learn to engage one another in combat without relying on your abilities. One day, your abilities will leave you, and you must have the wit to prevail anyway." _

_Thalia heard Percy's voice. __**Is this still your dream? **_

_Thalia nodded, but found herself to be disembodied. She no longer had a head. She seemed intangible and seemingly invisible to the people around her. However, her mind and thoughts worked just fine. _

_For now, she was just a spectator, rather than an active participant. __**I think so. Maybe formed because we were talking about it. **_

_Thalia tried not to think about the fact that Percy somehow single-handedly manipulated her dreams into something specific. Instead, she watched Young Thalia crack her neck. _

_Thalia looked across the arena to see the second warrior; an adolescent Percy, in a breastplate and shin-guards as well. He held a random sword that was not Riptide, as well as a shield in the shape of a pentagon. His helmet was much too big for him, and nearly covered his eyes. He looked much shorter, scrawnier, and more innocent than his current self. _

_Young Percy checked the straps on his shield. _

_**If you actually dream in memories, then we'll see exactly what happened, **__Percy theorized__**. **_

_She wondered if he was able to see her, or if he could also just sense her presence. __**Oh, yeah,**__ Thalia said__**. This is when I beat you up. **_

_Percy gave a laugh. __**No, we tied. You definitely didn't beat me.**_

_Thalia shook her head as her consciousness moved through the crowd and into the arena. She felt Percy's consciousness move towards her as well, until they were right next to one another. _

_**All right then**__, Thalia said, watching her younger self stretch. __**How about we let this memory play out and we'll see who's right?**_

_**Fine,**__ Percy said. __**Get ready to give me your best apology.**_

_Thalia laughed as well. Her laugh was cut short by an epiphany. That might have been the first time she laughed since the incident. _

_Thalia could feel Percy mood shift from one of confusion to one of happiness. _

_Young Percy looked at Young Thalia and smiled. He then looked around the crowd and fixated right on Thalia. He frowned as he looked at her. _

_**Uh, **__Thalia lowered her voice_. _**What was that? **_

_**What was what?**_

_**You just looked right at me! **__Thalia said. _

_**Huh? No, I was looking at the campers. **_

_**No, I mean your dream self. Baby Percy, **__Thalia corrected. _

_**Oh. Well, I don't remember seeing anything weird during this battle. Maybe I just saw Clarisse, **__Percy offered. _

_Thalia then saw Young Percy smile and wave at someone past Thalia. His smile made his eyes crinkle like Poseidon. Young Percy then trained his eyes on Young Thalia. "When you're ready, Pinecone Face!" _

_Thalia felt a shadow come over her. She kind of hated that nickname- trivializing her death on Half-Blood Hill in such a way was never her favorite. She would never admit it, though. _

_Young Thalia must have felt the same way. She banged her shield with her sword, denting it. _

"_Bring it, Seaweed Brain!" Thalia watched Young Thalia yell. _

_**Yikes, **__Percy said. __**I called you Pinecone Face in front of everyone? I'm sorry for that. **_

_**It wasn't my favorite, **__Thalia responded. **But we were like thirteen. **__**You're probably not a fan of being called Seaweed Brain. **_

_Thalia felt discomfort emanate from Percy's consciousness. __**If I'm being honest, it's weird when anyone but Annabeth calls me that. **_

_Now, Thalia felt bad. __**Sorry for that, then. **_

_**No worries, **__Percy said. **It was years ago. **_

_Young Percy leveled his sword as Young Thalia charged. Her arm holding the sword extended so it was perpendicular to her body, before trying for a side swipe. Percy batted the swipe away using his sword, then used his shield to bump Young Thalia away. Young Thalia, however, braced her body and met his shield with hers. The sound of the collision almost made Thalia flinch in the dream. She was surprised at how unfazed her younger self was. _

_Young Thalia didn't move an inch, like Percy tried to push a cinderblock. Percy's torso, however, was shaking from the force. _

_**You need to lift more weights**__, Thalia commented, watching her and Percy's forms closely. _

_**Whatever**__, Percy muttered. Thalia felt his consciousness move around the arena towards Young Percy, who was locked in combat between him and Young Thalia. _

_The crowd whooped, as Young Thalia tried for a sweep of the legs. Young Percy jumped to avoid it, but landed flat-footed. Young Thalia used the momentary advantage to grab his shield arm and crack it. _

_Thalia winced watching her younger self do that move. As she did, Percy's arm slid out of the shield straps and his protection went clattering to the arena floor. _

_**Sorry, **__Thalia slurred. _

_**Don't worry about it,**__ Percy said. Thalia sensed some mischief in his voice, like he had secretly given Young Percy some combat tips. _

_Young Thalia, however, didn't see Young Percy's strike coming from above- a one-handed tomahawk with the flat of his sword. Young Thalia was hit, and went down._

_**Dude! **__Thalia exclaimed. Thalia rubbed her head instinctively. She remembered how painful that hit was, like she had gotten hit in the head with a huge frying pain. _

_**Look, **__Percy said. __**You cracked my arm. I hit you with a sword. It's only fair. **_

_Thalia couldn't disagree with that. _

_Young Percy tumbled away from Young Thalia and held up his sword. His arms shook slightly. _

_Thalia, observing the fight as a third party, noticed that Percy had switched to a left-dominant position- probably because his right arm hurt like Hades now. _

_Once again, Young Thalia seemed to be on the same page as Thalia herself. Young Thalia ran at him at a wide berth, coming at an angle towards his right side. She tried for a thrust with her sword, but Young Percy quickly switched positions. His right arm was now the dominant. _

_He had tricked her. _

_Young Percy, most likely seeing the attack coming from a mile away, used a well-placed downward thrust to knock Young Thalia's sword to the ground. _

_Thalia remembered feeling embarrassed, and her face being hot after being tricked by Percy, of all people. _

_**Not a bad move, **__Thalia admitted._

**_Pretty sure that was just luck. Or on accident,_**_ Percy said. **I just remember being scared out of my mind. **_

_Young Thalia placed two hands on her shield, and got it up just in time for Young Percy to try and run his sword through her thigh. _

_His sword met her shield, however, allowing Young Thalia an extra split second to switch her shield to her left hand. She used her right hand to slap the helmet off of Young Percy, prompting a sharp gasp from the crowd. _

_**Geez, **__Percy said. __**What did I ever do to you?**_

_**I don't know, actually, **__Thalia said. __**I remember being really upset. **_

_Young Percy backed up and shuddered, like he was attempting to center himself after spinning around in a chair too many times. His hair was matted down with sweat, and his face had some dirt on it. His eyes, however, remained calm and level-headed. They gleamed, like he was truly enjoying having this experience with a friend._

_**Were you enjoying this? **__Thalia asked. _

_**Uh, I don't remember. I think I respected the slap. **_

_Thalia nodded. __**Everyone should respect the slap. **_

_Thalia, with a start, realized that Young Thalia was not attacking. She was just looking at Young Percy's eyes. Thalia got a little closer to her younger self, only to see that Young Thalia had gotten lost in Young Percy's eyes for a moment. _

_Young Percy had used his eyes as a weapon, whether he meant to or not. Young Thalia had gazed into in his eyes a moment too long, allowing Young Percy to charge her. _

_She didn't notice him until he was too close- he used his free hand to push her shield out of the way, and clanged her helmet with the flat of his blade. Young Thalia was disoriented, and Young Percy used the opportunity to disarm her with a swipe of her arms. _

_**Payback, **__Percy commented. _

_**Weak, **__Thalia dismissed. _

_Young Thalia was now empty-handed, facing the armed and angerous Young Percy. The crowd was silent as Young Thalia approached, holding her fists up like a boxer. _

"_Thalia," Chiron chastised. "Please use your weapons." _

_**Yeah, **__Percy added on. __**Use your weapons. **_

_**You didn't give me much a choice, **__Thalia said. _

_**Your sword and shield are right there! **__Percy protested. _

_**I remember what you did wrong,** Thalia said. _

_**What?**_ _Percy asked. _

**You embarrassed me,** _Thalia explained. _**I had to show you who's boss. **

_Young Thalia ignored the centaur and charged Young Percy. He didn't know how to respond, so he began to back up. Young Thalia then launched herself at Young Percy in an NFL-style tackle, seemingly trusting that he wouldn't take the opportunity to slice her head off. _

_Thankfully, Young Percy didn't react. He simply allowed himself to be hit by the horizontal daughter of Zeus. Young Percy went to the ground, and Young Thalia quickly straddled him. She then began wailing on him, aiming for those green eyes that momentarily threw her off her game. _

"_Thalia!" Chiron yelled, trotting nervously. "Use weapons please! Remember your form!" _

_To Thalia's surprise, Young Percy took the punches without retaliation. The crowd began to cry out. Some were screaming for her to stop, while others were egging her on. Clarisse La Rue, appropriately, was part of the latter group. _

_Finally, Young Percy caught Thalia's hands, and brought her in to give her a strong head butt. Young Thalia's face snapped back, and her face fell on his chest. He then pushed her off, tossed away his sword, and grabbed a shield. His nose was bleeding, but he seemed more focused on trying to make sure he didn't sustain any other injuries. _

"_How about we call it a tie?" he panted. He flinched and held up the shield like he expected her to toss a sword at him for suggesting such a thing. _

"_There's no such things as ties out there," Young Thalia grumbled as she stood to her feet. "Monsters truly don't care."_

_**You're right about that, **__Percy said. _

_Young Thalia sprinted to him and tried for a drop kick. Young Percy put his shield up and blocked the attack. He then took the shield and hit her core with the brunt of the shield. Young Thalia doubled over, suddenly short of breath. Young Percy then raised his shield like a pillow, ready to bring it down on Young Thalia's head. _

_His mistake: he hesitated. _

_Young Thalia then leapt up and kicked Young Percy in the chest while his arms were outstretched. Young Percy dropped and rolled away from her, putting up his shield just in time to meet Young Thalia's roundhouse punch. As she made contact with the shield, a wave of light blue electromagnetic energy erupted outwards from the collision. _

_Young Percy flew backwards, hitting one of the straw men and knocking it down. Sparks wove in and out of his clothes and arms for a few seconds before crackling out of existence. Young Percy's body shivered for a second, and then fell deathly still. _

_The crowd fell to a hush. Annabeth, dressed in an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and blue jeans, hopped into the arena and knelt by Young Percy. _

_**Annabeth, **__Percy said. His voice sounded in awe, like he wasn't expecting to see her so soon. Thalia understood, as she felt the same way. _

_She didn't expect this memory to have Annabeth in it. _

_Annabeth tried to check his pulse, but got shocked like she was wearing a fuzzy sweater. She frowned and investigated him, searching for the best place to check him. _

"_Ow…" Young Percy said. _

_Annabeth exhaled, and whispered something to him. She then helped him up. _

_Young Thalia blinked. Her bloodlust ebbed away and she dropped her sword. "Oh, no. I'm…I'm sorry, Percy." _

_Annabeth gave Young Thalia a deluxe glare, but Young Percy waved it off. _

"_Don't worry about it," Young Percy wheezed, stumbling towards the corner of the arena. "You win." _

_Thalia almost didn't want to watch what came next, because she knew what would happen. She couldn't tear her eyes away, though, like a car crash. _

"_Freak!" someone called out from the crowd. _

_The crowd began to stir and get warmed up, shouting at her about several things. _

"_Why would you do that?" _

"_Chiron said no powers!" _

"_She can't control it?" _

"_Freak!" _

_Thalia watched her younger self exit the arena and walk towards the Sound with her head hung. Thalia remembered wanting to give them all a group middle finger, but choosing not to so she didn't confirm any of the stereotypes they already levied against her. Instead, she just left the area_

_**Jesus, Thalia, I'm sorry, **__Percy said. _

_**You're sorry? I was the one who couldn't control my powers here, **__Thalia said softly. _

_**Well, to this day, I can't control my powers. So don't worry about it. I survived, didn't I? **_

_Thalia watched the Camp crowd disperse. Chiron looked off towards the Sound, like he was considering going after her. However, he seemed to decide that Thalia needed space. Consequently, he began to follow Annabeth and Young Percy to the infirmary. _

_**What happened after this? **__Percy asked. _

_**You recovered and came to check on me, **__Thalia said. _

_**I did? **_

_**Yeah. And you told me Annabeth was pissed, so I should probably get her a new shampoo or something as a peace offering. **_

_Percy laughed. __**Sounds like me, at least. Looks like you were right. **_

_The dream shifted once more to not a memory, but a possible future._

* * *

_Now, she was in her body, in somewhere that looked like the Olympian throne room. Huge columns held up the domed ceiling, holding up the shifting constellations of stars. All the thrones were destroyed, as well as the infrastructure of the throne room. The throne room, however, didn't glow with golden light. Instead, the throne room was dark. The colors looked faded. The fire that usually burned in the central hearth pit was nowhere to be found. In its stead was a cold current of air._

_Thalia turned to see that all the godly thrones were destroyed, reduced to rubble. Wisps of energy floated out of the destruction. She looked down to see __the mutilated bodies of the gods. The sight was gruesome- some gods had their heads ripped off, while others had several holes in their chests. At the ends of their wounds were colorful sparks of energy, slowly burning through their forms._

_The room was deathly silent. Thalia caught the scent of stale ichor in the room. __To say Thalia felt powerful was an understatement. Thalia felt more power than she had ever felt or even seen in her life. Rainbow flames covered her like a field of energy. _

_"Thalia Grace." _

_Thalia turned to see Hades in the room, staring at the remnants of his throne. He wore a fluid black robe, adorned with the faces of the newly deceased. _

_Thalia wasn't fazed by the use of her last name. Instead, she held her hand out._

"_You haven't done anything to slight me, Hades. Make the right choice and give it to me." _

"_What are you talking about?" Hades bluffed, opening his hands like he was trying to make a pitch to her. _

_Thalia opened her hand and willed her spear into existence. With a thought, she had her spear at Hades' throat. "Look at your family. Look where they are now that they have defied me. Do you want this to be you?" _

_Hades scoffed, as best as he could with a point at his neck._ "_You're threatening the god of the Underworld with death?" _

"_Not death," Thalia said. She felt strange, like she was deadened. She felt no more emotion, just drive. "Pure eradication, and sweeping your ashes to Tartarus." _

_Hades looked to the gods on the ground. His expression turned cold. He usually looked out of place in the Olympian throne room, like one student being photographed in black-and-white while the rest of the students in the picture were in color. However, in the washed out Olympian throne room, he looked right at home. _

"_Giving you the sword would mean that you would be able to master death," Hades explained. "As someone that wasn't meant to ever have such authority, such possession would destabilize the domain of death. Gods from other pantheons would come after you. Heroes would be sent to stop you. It would be chaos." _

_In response, Thalia's field of fiery energy increased in intensity like someone threw oil into an inferno. She took her spear away from Hades and backed up until she was about ten feet away. She then twirled her spear. "I guess I'll have to find other ways to convince you. I'm sure Nico and Hazel have some ideas." _

_Hades stood. "You…wretch. You dare threaten me? An impetuous, short-sighted, impulsive little girl suddenly gets a little power and thinks she can do anything." _

_Thalia thought for a second. "Maybe Persephone." _

_Hades glowered. "Don't you ever mention her name." _

"_Then give me the sword." _

_Thalia then sensed a presence behind her. Thalia turned to grab Hades' hand with relative ease, stopping his magical Stygian iron sword from penetrating her. The sword was dangerously close to her form. As the sword breached her energy field, it began to glow white and orange, like it was being actively melted in Hephaestus' forges. _

_Thalia saw the mirage of Hades that was originally talking to her melt away into shadows. It was an illusion. The Hades in front of her wore full armor, including his Helm of Darkness. The Helm seemed to try to attack Thalia's mind, searching the crevices of her mind for any fears she may have. However, Thalia was immune to such effects. Thalia reached out and took off Hades' helm, throwing it in the empty, cold hearth pit. _

_Thalia turned her attention back to Hades, who gritted his teeth. He tried to push the sword into her, but he was no match for Thalia's strength. _

_Thalia funneled a fraction of her energy into Hades' hand, resulting in him yelling out. Thalia continued to channel her power into Hades, which seemed to be too much for him. He melted into shadows in her hands, and re-formed a few feet away from her. He shot out his hand, shooting a blast of pure black energy at her. _

_Thalia matched his action and shot a blast of rainbow energy best described as the love child between electricity, fire, and plasma. The two blasts met each other with a crackle. Thalia saw Hades begin to strain, as he poured more into his blast. He gained little ground, though- Thalia watched her blast inch towards him. _

_Thalia felt her eyes well up with energy, and shot another stream of energy from them. Her blast hit Hades right in face, distracting him for an instant. The instant was all she needed, as Thalia's energy began to overtake Hades. He began to disintegrate. _

_The sword dropped. _

_Thalia stopped and watched Hades fall to the ground. He was partially melted/disintegrated. He attempted to cover his injuries, but couldn't stop the ichor from flowing out. Hades attempted to pick up his sword, but Thalia moved with pure purpose. A set of multi-colored afterimages followed her as she moved faster than Hades himself. _

_She reached the sword before him and picked it off the ground. As she held it, she__ felt a current of cold streak into her forearms. She turned it over in her hands to reveal an empty indent shaped like a long key. _

_Thalia pointed it at Hades. _

"_This sword isn't complete." _

_Hades shook his head. "You noticed. I wouldn't bring the complete sword to you willingly. Not complete, at least." _

"_The key is missing. Where is it?" _

_Hades fell silent. _

"_Look, the choice is yours," Thalia said. "I don't have anything personal against you. I know you've been done wrong by the gods as I have. You can die, or you can live." _

"_You're giving me a choice? Even when I tried to kill you?" Hades narrowed his eyes, visually searching Thalia's person as if he was checking for any sign of deception. _

_Thalia shrugged. "Why not?" _

_Hades nodded, processing the new information. "I choose to live, Thalia Grace. I have children to look after."_

_Thalia nodded. She had to respect his desire to be a father, which was more than she could say for Zeus. "And the key?" _

"_Buried. In Persephone's garden, by the garden of green flowers. Don't touch my family, Grace. Or you will know a fate worse than death." _

_Thalia nodded in understanding, strode past Hades, and headed out the room._

* * *

_The dream went black. However, Thalia could still feel something there in her mind with her. wondered if Percy could see all of that. _

_**Thalia, **Percy whispered__. His voice sounded low and broken, like he had just woken up to some horrible news. __**What did you do? **_

_Thalia could almost envision Percy's form, sleeping in a sleeping bag in what looked like a kitchen or dining area. There were several other forms by him, heaving and falling steadily in sleep. She wondered if they were still in the Argo III, or if they were somewhere else. _

_**I…I didn't do anything, **__Thalia said. _

_**But…you're going to, aren't you? **__Percy's voice turned judgmental, nasty, and disapproving. _

_Thalia fell silent like Hades. Percy couldn't understand, would never understand. He'd never make the touch choice for the greater good. _

_**Thalia. This is…I don't even know. What even was that? How did you even do that? **_

_Thalia couldn't stop the image of the Ophiotaurus flashing through her head. _

_**Thalia…no, **__Percy pleaded.__** Bess-, er, -the Ophiotaurus?!**_

_**You know where this leads, Percy, **__Thalia said. __**To us being able to hold Annabeth in our arms once more. **_

_**You're going to level Olympus to bring Annabeth back? That's insane. **_

_**It's not insane. Isn't that what you'd do to save a friend, even it meant destroying something?**_

_**I mean, you even killed Artemis in that vision. She was your mentor. She even helped us save Annabeth from Atlas. **_

_**She's not my mentor anymore, **__Thalia said._

_**Well, what about your friends?**__ Percy asked. Thalia could hear the desperation creeping in his voice, like he was throwing everything he had at the wall to see what, if anything, stuck.__** What if Reyna tried to stop you?**_

_**Then I'd suppress her. Wouldn't you, if you were on the road to something so important?**_

_**Thalia. You're hurting friends and family. You've become what you tried to stop. **_

_**Stop it, **__Thalia warned. _

_**Look at what the Titans did! **__Percy exclaimed. Visions of Kronos in Luke's screaming body flashed through Thalia's head.__** They were willing to do horrible things to bring the world back into the order that they thought was best. That's exactly what you're doing. **_

_**That's nothing like what this is. **__Thalia knew the base of what she was doing was a good thing. She knew that this quest was not so she could gain power- rather, it was to save a soul that met a wrongful death. _

_**And what is this? What is this image we just saw, of a destroyed Olympus and murdered gods? Is this all for Annabeth? Or is there more to this?**_

_**It's my fate. My destiny. **__Thalia could almost hear Dr. Thorn's cool voice washing over her once more, saying that reaching the Ophiotaurus was her destiny. _

_**What? Are you even hearing yourself? You're wrong, Thalia. **_

_**Sometimes, you must become them to stop them, Percy. Sometimes, you have no choice. The good guys don't always win. **_

_Percy didn't say anything for a long time. Thalia almost thought that he was gone, until she felt some stirring in his consciousness. _

_**Thalia. I know what you lost**, Percy said. _

_**You know NOTHING of what I've lost, **__Thalia interrupted. Her voice reflected the pain she was feeling, and the anger that was building. __**No one does! **_

_Percy was quiet for a bit. __**We all have ghosts, Thals. A lot of us have lost a lot, you more than most. Life gave you a bad hand- a pretty horrible one, actually- but that doesn't mean that you should give up like this. If you do, then life wins. **_

_Thalia didn't answer. Her mind pictured her and Jason playing around together, with the scent of cinnamon rolls in the air. She wondered if Percy could see that image, the image of a family that had somehow, for a second, found happiness._

_**There's always a choice, Thalia, **__Percy said. His voice was no longer sharp or judgmental. Now, it was soft and delicate, like a cool sea breeze. It was kind of scary how quickly he could shift, like the tides.__** You can either give in and let it consume you, or you can rise above it. And you don't seem like the kind of person that would just lay down and give in. **_

_He was doing his best to change her mind, and his best was pretty good. _

_**Maybe, **__Percy started once more. __**Maybe this was the reason why we saw this. Maybe it's because you haven't made the choice yet. **_

_**I've already decided this, Percy. You can't stop me. **_

_**You said you'd suppress a friend who tried to stop you. What if I tried to stop you?**_

_Thalia hesitated. __**I care for you. I really do. But if you get in my way…**_

_Percy was silent for a beat. __**What will you do? **_

_**I don't know, **__Thalia admitted._

**_Please don't do this, Thalia,_**_ Percy pleaded. _

**_Please don't try and stop me, Percy,_**_ Thalia said. _

* * *

With that, Thalia woke up in the mattress. Her movement made the mattress squeak loudly. Her body was covered with sweat, and stained the dark sheets she was laying on. Thalia rubbed her face for a few seconds before the door knocked.

"What?" Thalia said.

Her door opened, to reveal the _Pandos. _"Empress, our turbines and engines were strong enough to carry us from the Atlantic, all the way to the Hudson River. We are in the newest Jersey, I believe."

Thalia jolted into an upright position. She couldn't believe they were that close. "What the-"

Thalia turned and opened the window in her room. They were on a smaller body of water, and in the distance, shining in the afternoon sun, was the Empire State Building.

"Olympus is near, my lady."

Thalia watched the Empire State Building get closer. She prayed that Percy was far away, because the end of all this was near.


	16. Return

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Percy

Percy sprung out of the sleeping bag. He had to wrestle himself out of its grip, as it held him snugly in place. As he stood, he found that he was the only one left in the mess hall. Sleeping bags were strewn throughout the area, but there weren't any demigods sleeping in them.

Percy headed to the _Argo III _bathroom and washed his face. He thanked the gods that there was extra toothpaste and toothbrushes that he was able to use. Once he moved into his final phases of waking up, he made his way to the cockpit. He found most of the crew there, having recycled their old clothes from yesterday. Piper, Hazel, and Frank's clothes looked wrinkled, while Leo's looked fresh-pressed. The only problem was that Leo's clothes looked much too small for him. His shirt gave off a slight amount of steam. The skin around the entrances to the shirt looked red, like it was hurting Leo's skin every second he had it on.

Hazel caught Percy looking, and mouthed, _Dryer malfunction. _

Percy nodded, and watched her look back out to the windows. They were flying over a few fields, with the baby-blue The Big House looking radiant in the sunlight.

He looked towards Piper. Somehow, her hair looked wavy and expertly curated today. "How long did I sleep?"

"For a while," Piper said, as she snacked on some trail mix. There were no M&M's to be found, though, so Percy didn't know if it was truly trail mix. "It's nearing about three o'clock or so," she said.

Percy almost choked. "_Three o-clo-" _He looked at Hazel, who shrugged and nodded her head.

"You seemed tired," she said as she clicked a few buttons around her. "So we let you sleep."

Silence took over the cockpit once more. Percy suspected that the rest of the crew had late mornings as well, as they seemed to be in their last phases of waking up as well.

The roar of the propellant exhaust became deafening, overtaking all the ambient noise in the cokcpit. Percy's mind raced to his dreams, like it couldn't wait to get him to overthink again.

He usually dreamed of other people, of situations, of things that may happen in the future, and occasionally of abstract visions that seemed to symbolize something more. However, he had never quite had a dream of someone having a dream. He never entered someone else's dream or even dreamed about them dreaming about _him _at the same time. That was like dream-ception, and it gave Percy a headache the longer he thought about it.

It was weird to see Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth as a happy little family.

It was pretty cool to see the memory of Thalia and Percy sparring, even if it did make him cringe a few times.

However, he couldn't shake the image of Thalia standing among the ruins of Olympus, charged with the multi-colored energy of the power of the slain Ophiotaurus. She was strong enough to overcome Hades easily, even when he tried to get the drop on her. To get to that power, it seemed like Thalia had sacrificed Bessie. Once she did so, she could overpower the gods, get the sword of Hades, and bring Annabeth back.

Even though nearly all of his heart wanted to see Annabeth again, he couldn't let Thalia go down that road. Not at that cost.

Festus roared past Half-Blood Hill. The ship flew over Thalia's tree, glittering in the sunlight. The Golden Fleece hung on it like a pendant. Peleus stirred and looked up at them. Festus barked at Peleus, convincing him to go back to sleep.

Festus continued to fly over the valley. Percy looked towards Leo, who was fast asleep at the wheel.

"Leo," Percy said. "_Leo!" _

Leo jolted up, hitting his knee on the dash. He winced and grabbed it as he turned to Percy. "What, dude?"

"Did you Iris-Message Chiron to let him know we're coming?"

Leo nodded and beckoned towards Piper. "Yeah, she ended up doing it this morning."

Percy exhaled. It was a general rule that ambushing Camp Half-Blood was not always the best idea.

Festus stopped flying on a dime, and Leo pressed a button. "All right, buddy, let's land."

The _Argo III _landed slowly, but loudly, shaking until it landed in a meadow by the Big House. Leagues of green hills went on for miles from their side of the Big House. Even in the _Argo III, _Percy smelled the breeze. It came through the air conditioning, and made the cockpit smell faintly of strawberries. The hills were covered with fruit trees, and brightly-colored grass.

Piper stood up, stretched, and looked at Hazel. "Grover and Calypso in position?"

Hazel nodded. "They're ready to go at the back entrance."

Frank punched a button on the _Argo III _dashboard. A harsh beep sounded through the entire ship. In one of the external cameras, Percy saw Grover and Calypso transporting a line of mattresses, linked together by a taut chain. The Hunters' bodies were resting peacefully on the mattresses. Grover pulled the mattresses towards the Big House from the front. He looked like he was straining with the weight.

Calypso held it from the back, without breaking a sweat. An invisible magical force also supported the line of mattresses from the middle, so the assembly line of beds managed to not touch the ground.

Percy watched them. "That's…you all got it."

Piper laughed and looked at Hazel, who was packing up her stuff. "You ready to go?"

"We don't always need your help, Percy," Frank said, lightly pushing Percy's arm. "You can rest sometimes."

Frank left the room. Hazel nodded at Piper and grabbed a few items. The two of them then headed out.

"Come on, Leo," Piper said on her way out.

Leo got up and headed out the cockpit. "You joining, dude?"

Percy nodded. "Yeah."

Percy and Leo headed through the _Argo _and stepped out through the back exit.

The two of them were greeted by a small crowd of campers, who lined the porch and the grassy fields around the Big House. They were pointing at Festus and whispering. Some were giggling as they saw Leo, while others were pointing to Percy.

Percy didn't know if it was just him, or if the campers seemed to be getting younger. They all looked like they belonged in middle school, with the oldest ones just entering high-school age. He wished he could say that he never looked that young and innocent. Then again, he just got the opportunity to see a younger version of himself last night.

As Percy walked around to the Big House entrance, he saw the numerous cabins built with ancient Greek architecture and style. The number of cabins had nearly tripled since the last time he was a camper there.

He saw the amphitheater, the pavilion, and the combat arena that he had seen in his dream. Each building was supported by radiant white marble columns. The volleyball courts were suspiciously empty, but Percy figured that most of the kids playing volleyball had ran to the Big House to see the huge bronze dragon land with the demigod adults exiting. Percy didn't blame them- he probably would've done the same thing.

Canoes crawled across the lake. It was beautiful. Percy took a second to enjoy being back at Camp Half-Blood- it had been a while since he was really _here. _Percy thought back to his first time at Camp. He had collapsed on the porch, tired, dehydrated, and traumatized. When he came to, he saw Chiron and Annabeth, preparing to bring him into this new world.

_He's the one, _Annabeth had said. _He must be. _

Percy felt a chill on the back of his neck. He looked behind him to see a young camper, in armor so big that it was hanging off him. He looked to be about eleven. His brown skin reminded Percy of polished wood, and his golden eyes held a million secrets. The kid's hair was twisted in curls that shone in the sun. The camper looked floored, like he was looking at a celebrity.

The kid made Percy think about his first time at Camp Half-Blood and meeting people like Luke and Beckendorf. It helped Camp seem cooler, and expanded the world they were living in. There were demigods that actually grew to be older, demigods that went off to college, and demigods that became familiar with this huge world. This kid was still young, though, and was still probably trying to wrap his head around the fact that his parent was a Greek god.

Grover was right- these kids were the new generation of demigods. Demigods like him wouldn't grow up to be older, wiser, and stronger if they ended up facing a threat they couldn't beat. A terrifying vision flashed through his head of this kid being dispatched to stop an all-powerful Thalia, and meeting his end at her hands. He probably wouldn't stand a chance against Thalia at her base level.

Percy knew he had to stop Thalia. He needed to stop her. Not only because it was the right thing to do, but also because he needed to protect those coming after them. Percy nodded at the kid, who nodded back slowly.

Percy then stepped out of the warm outdoors, and into the Big House. As he did, he saw Chiron speaking with Leo, Piper, Hazel, and Frank. Calypso lingered off to the side, watering the plants in the building. Percy approached as Grover returned from the infirmaries. Grover gave Percy a smile.

"He lives," the satyr exclaimed. "You know how long you slept for?"

"Don't remind me," Percy grumbled.

He looked at Chiron. The hair on Chiron's head was cut neatly this time, a stark change from the messy hair he had before. His beard was flourishing, slightly rippling from the fans blowing in the room. Chiron's white stallion half was a little dirty, like he had just rushed back from coaching a sparring session in the arena. His tail was still when he was speaking with the demigods, but began to strike back and forth when he saw Percy.

"Ah, Percy! How have you been?"

Percy ran a hand through his hair. "Not great. You?"

Chiron nodded, looking so deep into Percy's eyes that it was like he was watching a replay of his dream last night. "I have been better," Chiron finally replied. "We are all mourning the loss of Annabeth, I believe."

Leo, Frank, Piper, and Hazel hung their head, while Percy looked towards the infirmary.

"How are they doing?" Percy asked.

Chiron followed Percy's line of vision. "They will be okay. Some rest and some ambrosia should heal them up. Some of them are already stirring, to my knowledge."

"That's good," Percy muttered. "That's good," he repeated softer. Even though the Big House was a comfortable room temperature, Percy felt like he was feeling a chill. The sunlight even seemed cold today.

Chiron regarded him for a second, and raised his voice. "Will you all excuse me? I'd like a moment with Percy and his keeper."

Percy caught Grover blink like someone snapped in front of his face. Grover's expression elicited a smile from Percy- it had been a long time since Grover was referred to as someone's keeper or protector.

"Of course," Hazel said. She beckoned towards the door and the group followed her. On the way out, Leo grabbed Calypso's wrist and pulled her out so hard that she let out a yelp.

Percy trained his attention to Chiron. "What's going on?"

Chiron sighed. "Perhaps that is a question that is best answered by you two. What happened? Why is there an influx of Hunters that need medical attention?"

Grover looked at Percy nervously. "Uh…well, it's Thalia," Grover explained. "She has kind of…gone off into a dark place. I think she's trying to throw herself into something fairly dangerous. None of us know what she's up to."

Percy tried to mask any kind of reaction to the statement, but Chiron seemed to catch on.

"Percy, do you perhaps have any idea, notion, or theory of what Thalia is doing?"

Percy hesitated. One wrong word could result in Chiron getting Mr. D on an Iris-Message, in turn alerting the gods about Thalia's whereabouts.

"No," Percy lied. "I don't know what she's doing or trying to do. I know that she seems to be affiliated with the Triumvirate Holdings now. The Hunters tried to intercept Thalia on a Holdings ship, and ended up-"

Percy gestured towards the infirmaries. "-resulting in this."

Chiron stroked his beard. "I am concerned about her ability to process Annabeth's murder. She seems to be on a dark path, one that will lead to harsh judgment from the gods."

"Yeah," Grover said. "She's lost a lot in her life. Part of me feels like she's tired of losing, you know? She wants to win at something for a change."

Chiron hummed quietly. "Perhaps. Whatever she's doing, we need to stop her before she does something that causes more trouble than she can rectify."

He looked at Percy. "Percy, if you had to put yourself in her shoes, what would you be doing if you were having trouble processing Annabeth's death?"

Percy felt like he was back in class again, with Mr. Brunner targeting him for a hard question. "Why are you asking me and not like…Piper? Or Rachel?" Percy complained. He assumed he sounded as young as the campers.

"You and Thalia are very much alike in multiple ways," Chiron said simply. "Is it hard to think about what you would be doing if you were having trouble processing Annabeth's death?"

"Not at all," Percy grumbled. He felt like he could've taken Annabeth's death a little better than he has been. However- if his mother had died, Estelle was dead, Paul was gone, no one there for him, everyone thought that he had gone off the deep end, _and _Annabeth was killed…he wouldn't put it past himself to head to the Underworld and demand her soul back.

"But, I guess if I was Thalia…I'd probably be trying to find a way to bring her back."

For a second, all they could hear was the fans blaring. The ping-pong table stood peacefully in the corner.

Chiron closed his eyes like he expected such an answer. "That is concerning, for lack of a better term. If you find any hint or indication that Thalia is planning such a plot, you must be the one to stop her, Percy."

"Me?"

"You are one of the few people alive who know her. The two of you look at life through similar lenses. I once told you that one of her problems is that she is a little too sure of herself. Right now, she may be doing something that she's sure of. She needs someone, who understands her, to tell her that what she's doing is dangerous."

Percy frowned and folded his arms. "And what if she doesn't listen to me?"

Chiron didn't break eye contact. "Then you must convince her."

Grover's eyes flashed from Chiron, to Percy, and back to Chiron. He seemed to put together that there was a conversation happening that was not being explicitly said. "Are you saying that he needs to fight Thalia? I don't know how well that would go for Percy."

Percy put his hands out. "Dude!" he protested.

"Sorry," Grover muttered.

Chiron shook his head. "Boys, enough. I'm not necessarily saying that Percy must engage her in combat, but, like it or not, you have a lot of bargaining power in this situation, Percy. You have a friendship with her, you know her, you know what she's lost, and you know what angers her. As a result, you know how to get through to her. If it comes to blows, then so be it. But bringing a soul back from the Underworld is too dangerous to pursue, even it is-"

Chiron's voice wavered. "-our Annabeth."

A group of campers from the Apollo Cabin rushed in, heading towards the infirmaries. They held medical appliances, and other unfamiliar trinkets.

Percy couldn't help but feel anxious. The image of Thalia at full power blasted through his mind once more. He didn't know how he was supposed to stop _that. _Chiron may be right, though. He may be able to stop her from reaching that point in the first place. And if he stopped her, no one else would have to later.

"All right," Percy said. "_If _I see any sign of that happening, I'll head out to try to stop her."

Chiron put a hand on Percy's shoulder. "Good. If you hear anything, it would probably be better to do it sooner rather than later."

Percy nodded. Grover glanced at Percy, looking confused once more.

"Be safe, Percy," Chiron said. "It _was _good to see you. Truly."

Percy didn't like the way Chiron was talking, with a tone of finality underlining each of his words. It was like Chiron was already envisioning what color shroud he would pick for Percy's funeral pyre.

Percy turned to head to the infirmary, but Chiron wasn't finished.

"Ah, and Percy? I find that stopping by a body of water before any kind of quest can be cleansing for the soul. It may help provide some inspiration, meditation, and reflection. Perhaps stop by the Sound before you go?"

"Before he goes?" Grover asked. "Percy's not going anywhere soon, is he?"

Grover turned to Percy as if to ask, _Are you? _

"Nah," Percy said, a little too quickly. "I'll be here for a little bit, at least until the Hunters heal up."

"Right," Chiron said. "And, _ah, _you're more than welcome to stay here as long as you need. Your old bed is still available, in Cabin Three. It was just a piece of advice for Percy to consider."

Percy and Chiron exchanged a meaningful look with one another, which only confirmed that Chiron knew more than he was letting on. He at least seemed to know that Percy was hiding something about Thalia.

Percy walked into the infirmary, and checked the rooms until he saw Reyna. She was propped up slightly, on a faded blue mattress. She stirred as he walked in. The strength seemed to have returned to her body. A tall glass of what looked like apple juice stood on the stand by the bed. It had a blue straw and a parasol stuck through a berry. Frost covered the glass, like the juice was cooled before given to Reyna.

Reyna smiled weakly once she saw Percy. The room was almost uncomfortably warm, like it was designed to put people to sleep. It was bare, except for a lone window and a blue rug positioned at the foot of the bed.

Percy returned the smile. "How's it taste?" he asked, nodding towards the drink.

Reyna looked to her side, and blinked like that was the first time she noticed the drink. "I don't know," she mumbled. She reached for it, and almost knocked it down.

Percy moved quickly to catch it. Miraculously, only a few drops spilled onto the ground, melting into golden vapor. Percy handed it to Reyna, who held it delicately. She put it to her mouth and drank a little.

"Not too much," Percy whispered as Reyna brought the glass from her mouth.

She swallowed and blinked. She then focused on Percy. Her eyes looked a lot more focused, and her body even looked a little stronger. Her gaze took on new strength as well. "It tastes like…"

She regarded Percy like she just noticed who she was talking to.

Her eyes narrowed for a bit, but eventually softened. "…my father's _enchilada de pollo," _she shared wistfully._ "_It used to be our favorite dish growing up. At least, until…"

Reyna trailed off. Percy decided not to push. Instead, he nodded. "Yeah, ambrosia has that effect, taking on the taste of something familiar to you. It makes you feel right at home, even in situations that may not feel like home."

Reyna raised her eyebrows. "You speak like you are referring to a memory, Percy Jackson."

"I guess I am," Percy said.

Reyna nodded. "Then I trust it." Reyna drank some more, and sat up straighter. "What happened?"

Percy pulled up a chair to the bed. "You and the Hunters tried to stop Thalia, I think. You let Hazel know when she Iris-Messaged you. We tried to get to your position in the Atlantic, before what happened…happened."

Reyna winced, like she was remembering a painful memory. "Ah, yes."

She looked Percy up and down. "Where is she now?"

Percy looked into Reyna's dark eyes and sighed. "I don't know."

Reyna narrowed her eyes. "If Argentum and Aurum were here, they'd devour you. You're a bad liar, Jackson."

Percy felt his face getting hot. "I think she's headed to Olympus," he admitted.

Reyna cursed. "We need to stop her."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "_We _don't need to do anything."

Reyna looked at Percy like he had just belched loudly. "Are you saying that you're going to go alone? To stop Thalia?"

Percy shrugged. "Why not?"

"She's quite formidable in a fight."

"Why is everyone saying that? I'm formidable too! At least, kind of."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Reyna's face. "And your claim has some credence to it. But you're out of shape, Percy."

Percy looked down at his stomach. "I haven't put on _that _many pounds."

"Out of _practice, _I mean," Reyna corrected, looking at her sheets. "You haven't fought in a while. Thalia has been fighting and training nonstop since we stopped Gaea. And she's angry. Opponents who fight out of anger are dangerous adversaries."

She gave Percy a strong side-eye. "Are you angry?"

Percy made the _so-so _motion with his hand. "Not really. I mean, I'm a little worried. But not angry. I want to stop her before she does something horrible. Like, I don't know if any Hunters died in-"

"Three," Reyna said, scowling at the ceiling. "We lost three Hunter lives."

Percy and Reyna sat in silence. Percy didn't know who was lost, but he prayed that they would be judged fairly and sent to Elysium for their service. While he was praying, he decided to send some love to Annabeth. He figured that Hades wouldn't package love and send it to her, but it was worth a shot.

"Alas," Reyna started. "I still care for Thalia. She deserves a chance to turn back from all this."

Percy nodded. He decided to not mention his dream, or the late-night conversation that he shared with Thalia. In both of those instances, Percy offered Thalia an out- a chance to stop going down this path. She rejected him each time, like even asking it was an insult to her.

Reyna sighed. "Do not fight out of anger, Percy. Not unless you have stood where she's stood. It's good that you are not angry. She deserves to face someone that does not harbor any resentment towards her."

Percy looked at Reyna, who was staring out the window.

"That person is not me," she said under her breath.

"And…that person is me?"

Reyna nodded, still looking outside. "You knew her before I. You must go. But, know that an army is generally better than one soldier."

Reyna looked at Percy like she had just shared a nugget of wisdom. Percy didn't quite get it, though. He didn't feel like admitting it, though.

Instead, he stood. "All right. I'll go."

Reyna sighed. "I know you will. Make Annabeth proud in your combat. She was a strong warrior."

Percy looked at Reyna to see her maintain eye contact. "I'll be sure to honor her."

That seemed to do the trick. She nodded, slumped down in her bed, and closed her eyes.

Percy left the Big House and made his way to the Sound. He tried not to stop off at any of the places that were on the way there, as he didn't have time to reminisce. Chiron rarely minced or wasted words, and he told Percy to stop there on purpose.

Percy arrived at the beach and sat near the surf. He was glad that it wasn't after curfew- he didn't feel like explaining to the harpies that he was actually a Camp Half-Blood alumni and that he wasn't as tasty as a result.

As the waves coursed onto the beach, Percy thought about his dad. He could use some guidance. Or some advice. Or a sign. These types of situations were hard to navigate.

He didn't know if fighting Thalia was the right thing, or if he should just talk to her without fighting.

If he just let Thalia do her thing, she may succeed. She wasn't someone who would quit. And if she succeeded, Annabeth would be back in this world. She'd be able to be sitting right here, by him, overlooking the Long Island Sound.

If he asked Chiron, he may be putting Thalia in even more trouble. Now, Percy had to get to Olympus without others noticing, and stop Thalia.

He wished he had a Coke. The caffeine would calm his hyperactive mind down and stop him from thinking about the bugs crawling into his clothes, the seawater breeze that took him back to Montauk, and the three Hunter lives that were lost.

A wave crashed suspiciously close to Percy, like it was trying to get his attention. Percy stood and walked closer to the Sound, trying to notice any message it was trying to give him. He doubted there would be instructions drawn in the surf, but he needed to be ready if there were.

Percy stood there for a few minutes, only to see nothing. He sighed and put his hand into the water. The cold current went around his hand and attacked his shins. Percy felt a little calmer, and a little stronger.

A larger-than-normal wave crashed on Percy's hand, coinciding with a strong breeze that slapped Percy in the face. When both receded, Percy found that he was gripping something. The grip was familiar, wrapped in leather. Percy pulled it out of the ocean to reveal a shimmering, double-edged bronze sword. Its leather hilt was decorated with gold studs. It felt perfect in Percy's hands, like it was right at home.

Riptide was back. Beads of seawater clung to the blade while other drops fell back into the ocean.

Percy looked out to the Sound and nodded sarcastically. "Thanks, Dad."

A huge _whoosh _and a wing flap sounded above Percy. It was Blackjack, landing behind him. His pure black body looked smooth, besides a scar from an old arrow wound courtesy of Orion. His wings, however, looked full, healthy, and somehow even larger than the last time that I saw

_Hey, boss man! _

Percy smiled. "Hey, Blackjack. I was hoping to not bother you with my problems any more, but I guess…I guess we have to one last time."

_No worries, boss! The big boss told me to tell you that it's time. _

Percy frowned. "The big boss?"

_The sea dude! Your dad! _

"Dad asked you to come here?"

_And to tell you that it's time. Apparently, there's more at play than what you think. _

Percy felt like he was going to stumble. The gods already _knew _about Thalia, and what she was doing. He didn't know what they were planning, nor did he know what was going on. But he knew that Thalia was heading to Olympus to make her vision a reality. It could be a trap- the gods could be there just waiting for her. He needed to get there before either Thalia did anything to Bessie, or the gods did anything to Thalia.

Percy hopped on Blackjack. He thought for a second before designating a place.

He heard Reyna's advice in his head, that an army is better than a soldier.

"Let's go to the Big House, first, big man. We need to talk to some friends. I have a plan."

_A plan? Nice! Where will it take us? _

"To Olympus."

With a huge flap, Blackjack took off towards the Big House, their first and last stop before Olympus.


	17. Paradise

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Thalia

Thalia watched through the window as the _Queen Cassiopeia _approached a pier to prepare to dock. The pier was next to a facility with a large field of green grass that looked like a golf course. An aquatics center stood next to the course, as well as several signs that read _Chelsea Piers. _Around the boat was relatively tame water that glittered in the sunlight. The water almost looked inviting. Part of Thalia wanted to make an escape through the window, diving deep into the ocean and never returning.

However, she couldn't afford to bow out now. She had bigger things to do. She had done too much to get here. She had even hurt Reyna in pursuit of this. For her to give up now would be a slap in the face of those who tried to stop her. It would also disrespect those she was trying to save.

This was perhaps the most important mission of her life. She had faced countless monsters in her history, but this mission was against one that was undefeated- death itself.

A knock rapped at the door.

"Yeah," Thalia said. The door slid open to reveal Clarisse and the _Pandos, _standing awkwardly next to one another. They looked uncomfortable, like they were having trouble fitting in the doorway at the same time.

"We have docked, Empress," the _Pandos _reported.

Clarisse rolled her eyes and stepped forward, in front of the creature. "Some asshole is asking us for docking registration and won't drop it. Should I take care of it?"

Clarisse was thumbing one of the knives on her belt as she asked, like she was itching for a yes. She looked tired, but still on the edge, like she was being animated by nothing but pure adrenaline.

Thalia couldn't blame the asshole for asking them for registration. If she was the one who had seen leagues of drugged up and bloody passengers come out of a boat _and _the boat was not registered, she would have some questions as well. As tempting as it would to let Clarisse handle it, it may result in them having to deal with the death of a somewhat innocent Chelsea Piers official.

"Nah," Thalia said. "We need to be as inconspicuous as possible. I'll be out there to handle him in a little bit."

Clarisse crossed her arms. It was weird to see the daughter of Ares almost look like she was pouting.

Thalia acknowledged the _Pandos_. "And what of our allies in the city?"

"All accounted for and taken care of," the _Pandos _replied. "Your journey to the Empire State Building will be without obstruction. There is also a parade prepared for you, leading to the Empire State Building."

Clarisse frowned, looking from the _Pandos _to Thalia. "A parade?"

"Yes," the _Pandos _confirmed. "Nero usually wanted a parade to welcome his arrival into whatever city he was visiting. In Greek tradition, a parade announces the entrance of royalty, which you are, Empress."

Clarisse's jaw hardened as she regarded Thalia. "So much for inconspicuous."

Thalia met Clarisse's gaze for a second, before looking at the _Pandos. _"No parade."

"But, Empress," the _Pandos _said. "Guests from all around the world have already filtered into New York to see the new head of the Triumvirate Holdings. Families have made reservations."

"All in one day?" Thalia couldn't suppress the creeping skepticism in her voice.

"Of course. Your entrance is not to be missed."

"Fine. I don't care. Just make sure that I won't have to fight my way to the Empire State Building."

Clarisse scoffed and stormed out, muttering something about arrogant children of Zeus.

Thalia was about to walk out to confront the docking staff member before she caught a reflection of her clothes in the glint of the doorknob. The gray long-sleeve shirt that she had gotten from Percy looked rough now. It didn't smell the best. It was slightly damp, with Thalia's sweat and blood. The integrity of the shirt was compromised, as there were several rips and tears. There was dried blood around her shoulder where Hunter had shot her. The _Wild Places _section of the _New York Aquarium: Saving Wildlife and Wild Places _label looked scratched off, like someone had taken a knife to it.

Thalia looked at the _Pandos. _"I know this may be a stretch, considering what this ship was used for- but are there any clothes on this ship?"

For the first time, the _Pandos' _face broke into an unsettling smile. "Of course, my empress."

The _Pandos _led Thalia down the spiral stairwell to one of the lower levels. They walked into a large closet that looked about sixty feet deep. Racks of hangers stretched throughout the room, like the Burlington Coat Factory. On the hangers were several different kinds of clothes, of all different colors, styles, and sizes. Unfortunately, most of the clothes seemed to be the types of clothes that one would wear on a pleasure ship.

"Are there…any clothes that are not revealing in choice spots?" Thalia asked.

Before Thalia could react, an invisible force blew through the area and whisked her a brilliant white _chiton _and some sandals with golden straps.

Thalia shook her head. "I don't know about that. Robes are not quite my thing. I need something lightweight, something I can wear armor under. I can't be vulnerable."

The force split into three directions- two blew away the _chiton _and sandals while another brought her a garment which looked like two black capes with silver trim and a sizeable hole in the middle. The two capes flaps held together by a golden clasp.

Thalia nodded. "Can I try this on?"

The force once again split into several arms. One arm of force blew off her shirt while the other blew on a white, padded shirt, along with fitted brown leather armor right after it. Another force threw the double-sided garment on Thalia, with her head going through the hole in the middle. Before Thalia got a chance to look down at herself, the invisible force blew her a mirror.

Thalia looked like a poet, who was about to give a speech to an Athenian assembly before carrying out an assassination. The garment, however, felt clean and didn't smell too bad. It was better than nothing. The armor fit perfectly as well.

She began to look at herself. With a start, she realized how bad she looked. Eye crust and dried drool cracked on her face. Light purple bags hung under her eyes, making Thalia look a lot older than she was. Her face looked pale, and her eyes looked like they had lost a little of their life. Her wound from the knife slash yesterday had dried into a red, purple, and black scar on her cheek. It looked like it was underlining the bags under her left eye.

In the mirror, Thalia saw the _Pandos _nod in approval. "Wonderful choice, Empress. That is a _chlamys, _a garment typical of Greek royalty. You look…wonderful."

"As long as you work for me, just know one rule I have," Thalia said. "Don't lie to me."

Thalia turned and walked out of the room, her _chlamys _flapping behind her. The _Pandos _scurried after her.

"How many people do we have left, now that the guests are gone?" Thalia began to ascend the central staircase towards the deck of the ship.

"Twenty in total, Empress. Five Germani, seven demigods, and eight of your personal guards. The scary women."

Thalia nodded. "And you, as well. So we'd be at twenty-one."

The _Pandos _hesitated. "Empress, I've been assigned as the aide for this ship specifically. I have orders to never leave this ship."

"So your life has been reduced to waiting for Nero to arrive on this pleasure ship, and serving him for as long as he's here? What happened when he wasn't here?"

"I waited for him to come back," the _Pandos _answered simply.

Thalia was about to condemn Nero's actions, but she found that she couldn't. In fact, she had done the same thing. As soon as she had assumed power, she used the _Pandos _for her own personal gain without giving it a second thought. In that way, she may have been just as bad as Nero. She was here to break the system of domination, not perpetuate it further.

Thalia stopped on the stairs. A few demigods trotted up the stairs past them, putting their fists on their chest and bowing to Thalia as they passed.

"What's your name?" she asked the _Pandos._

"My name?"

"Yeah."

The _Pandos _paused as if he hadn't thought about what his name was in a very long time. "Bentee." After saying his name, he straightened up like even saying his name gave him power. His long arms rose like his spine, until they hung off the ground.

"Bentee, I am your empress, now. As such, you follow my orders."

Bentee began to shrink away from Thalia as she asserted her position.

"And I am telling you, right now, that you have now been liberated."

Bentee blinked. "I'm sorry, Empress…what?"

"You're free. Once I get the twenty fighters off the ship, this ship is yours. Take it around the world. Travel. Go back to your family. Start one of your own. Go be happy. You've probably spent a huge chunk of your life having to serve. Now, it's time to find your place in this world."

Thalia continued to walk up. She began to smell the scent of the water, as well as the pollution of the city. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Bentee, frozen on the stairs like his entire life had been turned upside down. In a way, Thalia supposed, it had.

Thalia reached the deck to find the fighters there. The Primes nodded at her, while the demigods and Germani put one fist on their chest and bowed to her. Thalia jogged to one of the alcohol stands and grabbed an old receipt. Thalia then stepped down the stairs, and onto the pier towards a bald, tanned man with sunglasses.

He was on his phone, but then opted to take the phone away from his ear to shake his fist at Clarisse. "The police will be here soon! They'll make you all leave!"

Clarisse shouted multiple expletives that made Thalia want to wash her own mouth with soap. The bald man regurgitated the curses in backwards order.

While the two of them were engaged with one another, though, Thalia focused on the receipt. She imagined a heavy layer of Mist falling over the receipt. She imagined a docking registration slip. As she did so, she saw the air in her hand begin to shimmer. The words on the receipt looked fuzzy and began to overlay among one another.

Thalia walked up to him. "Excuse me!"

The man looked at Thalia irritably. "Unless you got papers for me, take your boat and move it from here."

"I'm sorry for my friend here. We're here for a cosplay convention in Manhattan. Here are our papers."

She handed the receipt to the man, and she watched closely as he investigated it. His brow furrowed as he examined the sheet, and took off his glasses to get a clearer look at it. Just for good measure, Thalia focused as much as she could on the paper, and intensified the Mist around it.

The man looked up at Thalia. He was shorter than her by a few inches. "Your friend has an attitude," he said.

Thalia fought the urge to throw him into the water. "Yeah, she's been going through a lot."

The man squinted, looking between Thalia and the ship. "Time of the month?"

Thalia shrugged. "Hey, man, I didn't ask. You don't have to tell me."

The man cursed at her and stomped away so hard that Thalia thought he may step through the pier. Thalia turned to the _Queen _and beckoned her crew to exit. Thalia nodded at Bentee as he waved at her from the edge of the main deck. The ship was so large that Bentee looked like a speck. It was then that Thalia, once again, got perspective on how large the _Queen Cassiopeia _really was. Nero really seemed to be compensating for something.

Together, Thalia and her crew walked through the pier and out towards Manhattan. With everyone around her, Thalia feel like she was surrounded by a security detail.

With such a group of capable fighters around her, Thalia allowed herself to look around. Skyscrapers stretched to the clouds. The Empire State Building seemed to hang over all of them, with the sunlight hitting the paneling and turning it silver. The top windows glowed golden, however, like the gods themselves were daring Thalia to approach.

Families, friend groups, and couples walked around the city, taking pictures, walking pets, and exiting restaurants. Cabs, Ubers, and Lyfts filled the streets while people took up the sidewalks next to the streets. Honks and ambient chatter filled the air. The names of the shops and restaurants were the only things that provided order to the concrete jungle in front of them.

Thalia realized that she didn't know what day it was. From the position of the sun, it seemed like it was late afternoon. Based on the behavior of the people in the city, it seemed like it was a weekend day. No one seemed particularly in a hurry to get somewhere- most people seemed to be there recreationally.

The demigods were slightly leading the group, through a dizzying set of short turns. Finally, they turned onto West 34th street. This one was different because there were no cars on the road. In fact, the roads themselves were blocked off by several police cars. Officers walked around the empty streets, seemingly searching for something. In contrast, the sidewalks on either side were _full _of people. However, these people didn't seem to be going anywhere. Instead, they seemed to all mean to be _right _there, as if they were waiting for something.

As Thalia and her group approached, the police began to move their blockade. One of the officers put a hand on their chest and bowed to her as he beckoned them through. Thalia almost felt like freezing up. She knew the Triumvirate Holdings were big, but she didn't know they had people in the police force. Such a reality was worrisome, to say the least. What else was the Triumvirate controlling? How much power, reach, and influence did Thalia really have at this moment?

Thalia forced herself to put one foot in front of the other. She wouldn't let this intimidate her.

Thalia noticed the demigod leading the group fall back so that Thalia was in the front. The Empire State Building was now a straight shot away. The crowd was cheering her as she walked through, so much so that Thalia could barely hear her own thoughts. Police were stationed in intermittent blocks, controlling the crowds so they didn't burst forward. However, as Thalia passed, they bowed to her and resumed their monitoring of the crowds.

Thalia's face felt hot. Her palms began to sweat. This was a parade full of Triumvirate employees, or fans, or stakeholders. They were all here, chanting for their new boss.

The cheering turned into a coordinated chant of _Empress! Empress! Empress!_

Thalia looked at Clarisse, who had a smug look on her face. "Empresses deserve parades, don't they? Wave to your adoring fans," she said.

Thalia clenched her jaw and faced forward. She just needed to get past this and to the Empire State Building. She began to notice a sequence of billboards light up blue as she approached.

The first billboards on either side of Thalia glowed light blue, and read in white lettering, _Save Annabeth!_

The second set of billboard glowed a deeper blue, with bolder white letters, _Avenge your family!_

The third set of billboars glowed white, with blue letters. The letters slid in from the side, which Thalia admitted was a cool effect. _Kill the Ophiotaurus!_

The fourth set glowed purple, with black letters. _Kill the gods!_

The last set read, _Tune in to "Thalia Makes It Right," premiering TODAY, at 7/6 central._

Thalia turned to her crew to see if any of them were seeing this, but they all had their visions trained either forward or on her. Thalia turned back, and cursed as her heart began to beat out of her chest. She didn't know if this was real or not, but she didn't have time to think too hard about it.

She arrived at the Empire State Building. The building was a grayish tan color. Each of its windows had red trim on it, and reflected the images of the Manhattan buildings directly across from them. The entrance to the building had three long, stained glass windows over them, pointing to a label above that read, **Empire State, **in golden letters. The building continued on so high that Thalia would have to break her neck to see to the top of it. The streets around it were uncharacteristically empty, devoid of cars or people- as if the blockade was a multi-faceted one that blocked traffic from all directions.

Thalia took a breath and walked into the lobby of it. A guard with a dark blue uniform sat in a chair behind a desk. Metal detectors stood next to the desk, leading to a set of elevators. Behind the guard was a polished granite wall, with an illustration of the Empire State Building leading to a celestial sun, with silver rays that fell to the city beneath.

The guard was reading a book with a sigil on the front, titled _A Song of Ice & Fire. _The guard looked up lazily upon seeing Thalia and the group approach.

"How can I help you?"

"I need to get to Olympus. Six hundredth floor."

The guard didn't look up from the book. "I don't know what you're talking about. There's not a six hundredth floor. Keep it moving, ma'am."

Thalia looked at Clarisse, whose hands were creeping towards her knife. Thalia bit her lip and shook her head, then turned back to the guard.

She hated doing this, but sometimes it was pretty handy. "So you're not going to let us up? I guess I'll have to tell my father that-"

Thalia checked his name tag. "-Rodney wouldn't let Zeus see his own daughter."

Rodney turned pale and looked at Thalia. He then squinted at her and craned his neck, like he was looking into her DNA to cross-check Thalia's claim. He then straightened up and put the book down. "You're Zeus' daughter?"

Thalia let her eyes speak for herself.

"Uh, sorry, ma'am. You need an appointment, though, to see Lord Zeus. He really doesn't like unscheduled visits, even from his own-"

Clarisse had it right. Thalia didn't have time for this.

In one motion, Thalia reached to her back, grabbed her spear, and swung it like a stick. It hit Rodney in the head, knocking him to the ground underneath the desk. The chair swung out from under him. Thalia vaulted the desk and stepped on his left wrist. She pointed her spear at his face, and charged static electricity through it.

"I don't make appointments," Thalia growled. "Let. Us. Up. Or I'll use your Adam's Apple to decorate your desk."

Rodney reached to his belt using his free hand and pulled out a gold-and-silver card. "H-Here," he stuttered out. "Y-you'll have to make t-two trips."

Thalia looked at her crew of twenty. She thought back to when Jason would try to carry all of the groceries into their residence with one trip. His tiny arms would be straining as he did so. However, once his grip gave out, the groceries came tumbling out of the bag, prompting another trip to the store. She wouldn't make the same mistake- she'd be damned if she finally got to the Empire State Building and was stopped by a faulty elevator.

Thalia let Rodney up. She slid back across the desk and walked straight under the metal detectors. The sensors went off, but Thalia didn't care. She pointed at the group. "Half of you, with me."

Clarisse, Doris, and the rest of the Primes joined her, as well as two Germani guards. They stepped into the elevator, and Thalia inserted the card into a slot on the dash. The slot glowed blue as it registered the card, and ate it up. As the card disappeared from view, a red button appeared on the top of the dash, saying, _600\. _

Thalia pressed the button, and waited.

And waited some more.

They waited an ungodly amount of time, as the Breakbot song, "Baby, I'm Yours," played from the speaker on loop.

Finally, the doors crawled open. Thalia's breath caught in her chest. Her vision began to pulse. They were standing on a stone bridge that looked to be magically suspended in the middle of the air. They looked to be tens of thousands of feet up in the air, right over Manhattan. Clouds hung all around them. It was cold up there, adding some additional uneasiness to Thalia's mounting fear.

At the end of the walkway was a set of marble steps that led to a mountaintop in the sky. Olympus had multiple levels, like a mountainous, divine version of the _Queen Cassiopeia. _The lower levels were residential districts, full of white and golden mansions that shone like the sun in the light. Several winding roads led up towards the top of the mountain. The roads ran through a garden level with olive trees, rosebushes, and other beautiful otherworldly plants. The roads also coursed through a large entertainment district with colorful tents, stone amphitheaters, coliseums, and a thousand braziers that glowed with crimson flames. Thalia could hear the music of festivals and celebrations float to her like a ghost.

The winding roads finally led up to the largest palace of them all, surrounded by snow. It looked like a white and golden castle, rising proudly above it all.

The Olympian throne room.

Thalia felt her mouth getting dry and her face getting wet with sweat.

"Ha…" she said weakly as she looked down. She couldn't stop her mind from imagining what would happen if she took one false step on the walkway. It would be her falling, so much falling that she'd probably die on the way down.

"Thalia," Doris said, stepping forward. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Thalia said in a hoarse voice, licking her lips. "Just waiting for the rest of our crew."

On cue, the rest of the group arrived through the elevators. Doris looked at Thalia as if to say, _Now what's your excuse? _

"The crew is here," Doris said.

_Thanks, Captain Obvious, _Thalia said. She took a breath. She had to do this. For Annabeth.

Thalia took a step on the walkway. The bridge didn't move at all. She took another step, and continued to do so until she reached the end of the bridge. She then felt her energy return, as she climbed up the marble steps to Olympus.

The group followed the main winding road through the multiple levels of Olympus. Thalia had a hard time not gawking at everything around her. _Everything _seemed to glow white and silver. The residential districts had liquid gold woven into the infrastructure, as nymphs and minor gods walked around and hung out in fountains. The entertainment district was perhaps the busiest, with hundreds of thousands of people roaming around.

A festival seemed to be carrying on, filled with elaborate costumes, ubiquitous music, and gorgeous displays. Centaurs stood behind stands, selling cotton clouds on a stick, flavored with varying flavors of fruit syrup. Bands were playing crazy sets of instruments, some that Thalia had never seen before. The packed coliseum occasionally roared with cheering and screams.

Thalia led her group up the main winding road to get to the uppermost level of Olympus. This level was a lot calmer. It almost reminded Thalia of a college campus- several sidewalks and paths led to multiple buildings and parks in the area. Water droplets flowed through the air, creating an endless spray of water and mist. As such, rainbows ran through the air, appearing and disappearing constantly. The Muses were hosting a performance in a courtyard, their manes of coiled hair flapping and moving with each exaggerated dance move. Satyrs, nymphs, and godlings surrounded the area, watching them perform.

Minor gods tended to the Olympian gardens, in a display that was worthy of Demeter herself. Some individuals were set up in vibrantly colored and decorated tents on patches of grass and flowers of any color you could imagine. Satyrs were setting up what looked like camera equipment for _Hephaestus-TV, _pointing towards the Muses' performance. A freshwater spring cut through the entire area, helping provide connective tissue through all the places. It smelled like an intoxicating combination of vanilla and cinnamon.

Thalia looked down the main road to a large courtyard that led to the silver-golden doors of the Olympian throne room. Thalia could see hints of Annabeth's architecture coming to life. Statues of Athena and Poseidon joining hands served as an archway leading to the Pegasus farm. Each building was held up by columns that looked to be a mix between Doric and Corinthian styles. The columns seemed woven with streaks of bronze, helping to secure the structure. A few capitals, designs at the top of columns, read _CHB, _for Camp Half-Blood. Statues of each of the Graces stood by the buildings.

A _tholos, _a small circular temple, stood by the courtyard and the throne room. It had a name plate that read, _Dedicated to our beloved demigods, fallen and living- Olympus stands on the backs of your service. _

Thalia had to bite her tongue to stop her from cursing all the people around her. They had the gall to celebrate, when the person who designed Olympus was dead. They looked carefree and relaxed, completely detached from the world below.

But she was here, though. And she would give them something to celebrate about.

"There are too many people by the throne room doors," Doris pointed out. "We mustn't move in at this point."

"Why?" Clarisse frowned. "Who over there is going to stop us?"

Thalia followed their lines of vision to see several children playing around the Olympian courtyard. Some nymphs sat by the gardens, enjoying the sights.

"Doris is right," Thalia said. "We may need to wait until later."

"Hello, there," a sing-song voice floated from Thalia's side. She turned to see a short woman with olive skin, black hair that fell in waves, and eyes as orange as a sunset. She was carrying a basket of what looked like water. She wore light blue jeans and a large black sweatshirt, with rips in the sleeves and body. The shirt and the lighting brought the color out of her eyes, and her voice made Thalia feel like she had a warm glass of milk after a long day.

"Move along," Clarisse said sharply.

Thalia shot Clarisse a look. Thalia couldn't believe that she was being so rude, when this individual seemed to just want to say hi.

The woman gave a smile that almost thawed Thalia's heart. "I am sorry to bother you all. And how rude of me- my name is Mia. It is just that you all seemed new here, and I wanted to see if I could help you all out in any way."

Thalia nodded. She needed to engage this strategically- they already looked suspicious with a bunch of warriors surrounding her.

"Well, thanks for that. I think we're good, we don't need any help."

Mia nodded. She then seemed to register the detail around Thalia. "Are you a queen?"

Thalia balked. It was a weird sensation- she didn't know how to react, but it made her feel weird that she didn't just say no.

Doris stepped in. "She is just a visitor, as we all are."

Mia let go of her bucket, but instead of falling, it floated in the air. She clapped several times, jumping up and down. "Joy! Please join me for dinner, then. I love guests."

Thalia turned to look at her crew of twenty large, aggressive warriors. They were likely very hungry, but she didn't know how much food this woman had.

"We...don't want to infringe upon you," Thalia said. "Thanks for the offer, though."

"Oh, no worries! I do not take no for an answer!" Her voice drew Thalia towards her, and made her think of the time where Luke and Thalia sat together to watch the sunset on the porch of an abandoned house in the middle of the woods. She had been truly happy back then. Now, she was far from happy. But, they couldn't stay out here and continue to draw attention to themselves.

Mia skipped off, towards the courtyard of the Muses' performance. Thalia looked at Clarisse, who rolled her eyes and started following. The group followed Mia past the performance and down a set of steps that looked carved into the mountain. They saw a small wooden shop that jutted out from the side of the mountain, labeled, _Afterglow Pastries _in silver letters. It looked like a gingerbread house, with windows decorated with candy cane outlines.

From the looks of it, Thalia doubted that the place could hold eight people comfortably, much less twenty. However, as they stepped in, they went down a short set of stairs to reveal a large dining room with plush couches, velvet stools, multiple wood-carved tables, and a counter in the back with a variety of pastries and desserts on display. It smelled sweet, like her mother's pastries on Sunday morning.

Additionally, the room was full of boxes, bins, books, bottles, baskets, and food- so much so that Thalia barely had enough room to think. The room should not have been able to fit in the building from the outside, but this place seemed to be able to hold this dining space and more.

Mia waved her hand towards the dining seating area. Thalia's group looked at Thalia uneasily, like they didn't know what to do. Thalia gave them a nod, and the group squeezed into the dining area. Thalia figured that they wouldn't complain about the mess too much, as it had been a while since they had a good home-cooked meal.

Mia pointed her hand towards a stained glass window, and a ray of sunshine began to produce, almost like a spotlight on her. In the sunshine, Thalia saw sparkles begin to collect and form until a plate formed in the air. Mia took the plate out of mid-air, and floated it over to one of the Primes. She continued this process until everyone had plates in front of them. Mia spun through the room to reach the counter. With a wave of her hand, a golden-brown garlic bread pasta torte crawled through the air and floated towards Thalia.

Mia winked at Thalia, and Thalia heard some of the Triumvirate demigods nearly swoon. "The queen goes first."

Thalia looked to her side to see a plate floating on the other side of her. Thalia took the plate and took the torte slice. She then took a bite of it like a pizza, resulting in laughs from Mia and Thalia's group.

Thalia stopped chewing and looked around. "What?" she asked with her mouth full.

Mia pointed by Thalia's ear. Thalia looked at where she was pointing, to see a fork floating. She took the fork, and felt her face turn red. The laugher increased. Even the Germani guards couldn't stop themselves from giggling with their hands covering their mouths.

Thalia rolled her eyes and continued eating, letting herself taste the bite she took.

She had to stop herself from letting a moan escape her. It was one of the best bites of food she had ever had. The cheese, the bread, and the sauce all came together to make a beautiful breaded version of pizza-pasta dish.

The rest of her crew took a bite of their food, and proceeded to devour their portions. Even Clarisse's perpetual hardened stare softened once she took a bite of it. As they were eating, Thalia saw Mia take the bucket of water she had, and add it to a large tank of water.

Clarisse swallowed her first bite. "I don't mean to intrude, but do you live here?"

Mia nodded emphatically. "I do!"

Thalia blinked. They had just passed by neighborhoods of beautiful mansions made of gold, and yet Mia was living in her bakery. "Wait, why?"

Mia looked out through the stained glass window. Despite her casual clothes, the spotlight of sunshine made her look divine. "My mother was a Hesperide. She was embroiled in a plot to try to oust Zeus from his throne hundreds of years back. This was before she had me with Eosphorus, a minor god. The gods banished her from ever returning to Olympus, along with me and my brother."

The sunlight became uncomfortably hot. Thalia was afraid the tables may catch on fire.

"Then how are you-"

"Still here? Well, I heard that the material plane is not too good for nymphs like myself or my brother. Between pollution, war, and prejudice, I knew we needed to stay here, in this demiplane that allowed us protection from the world below. So, I made a deal."

"What kind of deal?" one of the Primes asked, with their mouths full.

Mia regarded them, her eyes full of nothing but power. "Two hundred years of servitude, mostly architecture, and I will be able to be in Olympus without any negative repercussions. However, I am banned from living in the residential districts. As such, I carved a home out in this mountain. Afterglow Dwellings is my attempt to give back to Olympus, and to give the other mountain folk a place to go where they will not be judged or attacked. I have only sixty-one years to go."

"Mountain folk?" Doris beat Thalia to it.

"Sixty-one?!" Clarisse said.

"Yes, sixty-one. And yes, all the rejected, the stigmatized, and the cursed have retreated into the mountains, out of sight from the general Olympus population. We all live in a community down here."

Thalia felt sick. This paradise, that seemed so pure and cheerful, had its dark corners- just like every other place in her "world below." Even Olympus had disadvantaged populations, the people that society didn't care about.

"What about your brother?" Thalia asked.

A cloud came over Mia's face, and the place got darker, like the sun moved out of view. "My brother refused to be confined to the mountains with me. He stood up to the gods, and attempted to mobilize a vote of no-confidence, as well as a petition for Lord Zeus to step down."

Mia looked miserably at the window. "They killed him for it. They made it a public display."

The room was so silent that Thalia could hear the bread rising in the back.

"So," Mia continued, with sunshine back in her voice. "What brings you travelers here?" Mia asked.

"We're here," Thalia said between sad chews. "To find a friend."

Mia cocked her head. "Is she lost?"

Thalia nodded and watched the brown floors. Part of her wondered if it could be made of actual gingerbread. "You could say she's lost. And we're trying to find her."

"Oh, no. How long has she been gone?"

Thalia thought. "A few weeks, maybe."

Mia nearly fell out of her chair. "Weeks? We must find your friend!"

Thalia shook her head. "Thanks for the sentiment, but I think we should be good. We'll have her back by this evening."

"Oh, good," Mia said, with a smile so genuine that it made Thalia smile.

Suddenly, her smile wavered. "Is your friend in the throne room of the Olympians?"

"Excuse me?" Thalia blinked.

"I heard you all considering the best way to get into the throne room."

_Shit. _She must have overheard them talking about the throne room outside. That may have been why she invited them inside. Hell, this entire place may be a trap.

Thalia saw Doris' hand creep towards her spear. Clarisse gripped her knife. They were ready to jump Mia if Thalia gave the word.

But Thalia refused to give the word. Mia had lost her brother, like Thalia. She had been nothing but kind to them, and she refused to treat her like the gods.

"...yes," Thalia said. "My friend is in the throne room. She was a sister of mine."

Mia looked long and hard into Thalia's eyes. "Do you miss her?"

"Every minute of every day. I am doing this not only for her, but also for my own brother."

"Younger or older?"

"Younger. He was my baby brother."

Mia nodded like she understood. Her face was deathly serious. "I see something familiar in your eyes. A fracture, like you are searching for something that will make you whole. Do you think finding your friend will make you whole?"

Thalia looked down at her dish. The heat emanating from the plate was just warm enough to remind Thalia of a warm sunbathing. "I aim to make a change. A _real _change, one that will result in people no longer living in the underbelly of society. A change that will help the invisible and the disadvantaged. With this change, I could save our brothers."

The sunlight was now hitting Thalia, engulfing Mia in shadow.

"I don't think finding my friend will make me whole," Thalia concluded. "I think that finding my friend will help make it so that others will never be fractured again."

Mia, while in the shadows, searched Thalia's eyes for a second. She then stepped into the light once more. Her face made Thalia feel like she was going to kick her out, or choke her somehow using the sunlight. Instead, Mia pulled Thalia into a hug. She smelled like pumpkin spice and nutmeg.

"I believe you can do it," Mia whispered. "I believe you can save us."

She pulled away. "How can I help?"

Thalia glanced at Clarisse and Doris, who were putting their weapons away once more. She could tell they weren't happy about Thalia giving away their position, and she understood. She had to proceed carefully, as she just spilled her guts to a complete stranger. Mia could end up being a double agent for Hera, and they could be in trouble. Hera was never a big fan of Thalia, for obvious reasons.

"I need to get into the throne room, undetected."

Mia thought for a second, and then grabbed a plate on one of the stacks of boxes near her. She drew a circle concentric to the shape of the plate itself. As she did, the path she drew glowed yellow, like she was drawing with pure light. Then, the center of the plate turned into a specific place, to reveal a satyr. He had a round, plump face, a sharp fade, long horns, and a red nose.

"Mia, my beautiful flower! I'm guessing you're calling because you missed me?"

Mia frowned and reached towards the image. "Goodbye, Lereus."

"Wait, wait! I'm sorry, it was a joke. How can I help you?"

"I need you to come over here at sunset."

"Wha-oh-of course! I'll be there! I'll bring a bottle of the best wine. What time should I be there? Never mind, I'll figure it out. I'll be ready."

"Easy, Lereus. I need a favor."

Lereus' excitement faltered. "Anything. What do you need?"

"I need you to deliver a package to Ares' throne."

Lereus frowned. His upper lip curled up in distaste. "Anythin' but that, Mia. Come on, girl! I thought you were done with him."

"I _am _done with him. He let me down, as you know, and I cannot forgive him for that. But what I do want you to do is to bring him a package. It's one he definitely will not like."

Lereus' face started to creep back into a smile. "Oh, of course I'll help you. If anyone asks, I'll say it's his new weapon. Word around the Mount is that it kills people that even look at it."

"I think that will work."

"And, now, what's the package? Like, the actual package. "

Mia ignored the question. "I shall see you at sunset. Do not be late."

"Wait! If I do this for you, you have to go on a date with me."

"...I think I will ask someone else. Thank you for your time, Lereus," Mia said.

Lereus must have tripped over something scrambling up. "Don't you _dare! _I'll be there in a few hours."

Mia tapped the plate, and the image dissolved. She looked at Thalia. "You have your in. Lereus is on Hermes' payroll, and serves as one of the delivery satyrs that brings packages to the gods. He's a good ally to have."

Mia looked past Thalia to watch the Triumvirate demigods whisper something amongst themselves.

"I am _not _toxic," she exclaimed.

Thalia looked to see the demigods put up their hands in concession.

Clarisse frowned. "Once he gets here, he'll see that the 'package' he's supposed to be carrying is a grown-ass woman. What do we do from there? Do we have something that he's going to think is the package?"

Thalia and Mia looked down to the several boxes and bins on the ground.

"I think we got that covered," Thalia said.

She looked at Clarisse. "All right. If Lereus gets here and sees all of us, he may get scared away. All of you, go out on this level of Olympus and have fun. The Muses are probably still performing. Be inconspicuous. When sunset hits, though, I want you all stationed in the spring, behind statues, and in trees- starting from the courtyard and going all the way down to the end of the road that leads to the lower levels. Go!"

Thalia didn't need to tell them twice. Like they were children going out to play with their friends, the demigods, the Germani, and the Primes ran outside. Thalia heard one of them say, "Best emperor ever!"

Thalia turned to Mia, who gave her a small smile.

"Emperor?"

"That's just their nickname for me," Thalia replied.

"Hmm," Mia said, suppressing a smile. "Help me clean this up, perhaps?"

For the next few hours, Thalia and Mia organized boxes, cleaned up loose clothes, strewn-around bins, put away containers of food, and even swept up the room. When a knock sounded at the door, Mia nodded at Thalia.

Thalia returned the nod, and put on Annabeth's cap, disappearing from view. She then hopped into the dark blue bin they had designated for Thalia, closing the lid over her.

Mia gave an _ooh, _and then gave three short claps.

"That is impressive," she said, as she moved towards the door.

Thalia heard Mia open the door.

"Lereus," she heard Mia say. "It is good to see you!"

"Mia, my love! You look lovely, as usual."

"Thank you, Lereus-" she said. "-the package is right over here."

After a few beats of silence, Thalia felt two hands pick her box up. She felt herself moving.

"Good luck, Lereus! May you bring the change you seek," Thalia heard Mia call out.

"Uh...thanks?" Lereus responded.

_Thank you, Mia, _Thalia thought to herself.

While in the box, she thought about Mia the nymph. What kind of pain did Mia have to face, to live without her brother and be forced to serve the gods afterwards? Just to own a shop underground and be shunned by Olympus as a whole.

Mia was powerful, as well. The daughter of a Hesperide and a minor god? Her power was likely considerable, much farther past any demigod that Thalia may have encountered. Yet, she dared not stand up to the gods, due to an underlying fear.

Thalia had that fear too. She was scared that the gods would curse her, or sentence her to a horrible death because she tried to save Annabeth. Yet, she knew that fear itself was normal. It was _human. _And yet, she couldn't let fear stop her from doing what she needed to do. She needed to do this, if it was the last thing she did.

Thalia heard Lereus clear his throat. "Uh, hi, there. Are you two the new Olympian security guards? I thought they didn't start for another month?"

"What you got in the box?" Thalia heard Clarisse's voice ask.

"Uh, Ares' new weapon, Warbinger. Rumor has it that it actually kills anyone that looks at it."

There was silence. Thalia could feel Lereus' pulse quicken as the silence continued on.

Finally, Clarrise's voice cut in the silence. "Go ahead, then."

Thalia heard the creak of huge doors opening, as Lereus stepped into what sounded like the throne room. His hooves clopped against the glass ground, echoing throughout the large room. Thalia felt herself get set down. She could feel the power of Ares' throne from even inside the box.

Then, Thalia heard something she wished she hadn't. She heard _peeing. _For a long time. A stream that took nearly seven minutes to quell. Then, Lereus clopped away, as the throne doors closed behind him.

Thalia kicked open the door, and immediately was hit with the smell of urine. Even the smell, however, couldn't corrupt the awe she had of the throne room. The place was larger than the largest room that she had ever seen. Twelve gargantuan thrones stood in a _U _shape, with a hearth pit in the middle of it. Massive Corinthian columns held the structure up. The sky was a dark blue, decorated with shifting constellations of stars.

Thalia kicked the box away and walked around the room. Her steps made resounding echoes, like Lereus' own. The Ophiotaurus cage was nowhere to be found, though. Thalia couldn't tell if she was disappointed or not. She wasn't quite sure if she was ready to do so.

She saw Zeus' throne, made of solid platinum with pulsing lightning decorations on them. Hera's ivory and adamantine throne was next to it, sporting peacocks and a willow on it. She saw Poseidon's throne, which looked like a fisher's dream seat. A holster was on the chair, meant for Poseidon's trident.

The throne, however, that caught her eye was a silver throne with golden basket weavings embedded in the material. A crown of violets sat above the chair as well.

Athena's throne.

Thalia took out her spear and approached the throne. Anger spread through her fingers and into the spear as she lifted her arms.

_Athena doesn't deserve this throne_.

In an all-out thrust, she forced the spear through the base of the chair. Golden energy bled out from the puncture.

_Athena gambled Annabeth's life. _

Thalia pushed the spear farther in. She felt a presence trying to respond, but nothing happened. It was like the presence itself was blocked by something even more powerful.

"You don't deserve this," Thalia screamed, as she ripped her spear out and stabbed it in the back of the chair this time. "I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!"

She tore it out and stabbed it again.

And again.

And again.

She lost count of how many times she attacked the throne. Each time, she channeled electricity through it, funneling the lightning of Zeus through the chair. Holes began to form in the throne, with each spear thrust.

Finally, Thalia flipped her spear up and brought it down like a hammer on the throne. The spear hit the throne at the top, and Thalia poured as much lightning as she could into it. Thalia slowly brought the spear down the throne, watching the lightning split the atoms of the throne. The throne itself began to crack, as Thalia dragged the spear down the back and through the seat of the chair.

Thalia heard cackling, as if it was in the room with her, but she didn't care. She needed to finish this. Thalia watched as her electricity split a golden weaving line, and the chair split into two halves. It fell down, and Thalia watched as golden energy evaporated into vapor.

Thalia breathed heavily for a few seconds, before sensing that she wasn't alone in the room. She looked up to see her mother, sitting on Zeus' platinum throne. She wore a business suit, with a black jacket and black pants. Her white collared shirt was unbuttoned at the top, and she lounged on it, holding a glass of wine.

She was the one cackling, as she was still laughing before noticing Thalia watching her.

"My dear," she cooed between fits of laughter. "You made it."

Thalia frowned, catching her breath for a second. "Where are they? Where are the gods?"

Her mother smiled, an unnatural grin that spread over her face. It looked like she was using the skin on her face as a mask, to hide her true form. "The gods are weak. You mustn't worry about them, my love. I have created a barrier that not even they can get through."

Thalia looked at her mother. "How can you do something like that, if you're just a _mania?_"

"Just a _mania,_" Beryl wailed. "I am so much more than that, my child. I have been the voice that has been-"

"-_inside your spirit." _As she said those words, the words echoed in the same deep, internal voice that was imprinted on her soul.

Thalia took out her spear. "You're not my mother," Thalia said, in a tight voice.

"But of course I am," her mother said, her voice now much deeper. "I own you, now."

"Never," Thalia said, launching her spear towards the imposter on Zeus' throne. The spear went straight through the mirage's head, embedding itself in Zeus' throne. It began to crackle and charge with electricity, as the power from the throne began to fill the spear. Her mother reached through her head like an illusion and grasped the spear. She removed it from the throne and tossed it back to Thalia- a perfect throw that landed right in Thalia's hand. It hummed with energy.

"I am the one who has gotten you here," her mother said. "Who gave you the idea to pursue the Ophiotaurus. Who protected you during this time. Who has kept you company. Who protected you from the witch on the ship."

"Circe," Thalia said. "You were who she was talking about."

"Oh, she noticed immediately. She wanted to free you, but that couldn't happen. You don't want to be freed. You want to accomplish your goal."

"I am _not _yours. You don't own me. I'm my own person," Thalia yelled. She felt her free hand ball into a fist.

"Is that so? The person who cried for help on the ocean when you needed to stop the Greek fire? The person who would have died in that forest if I did not send the image of Amaltheia?"

Thalia cursed. Amaltheia wasn't even real. Her father's sacred goat was all in her head. She didn't have anything to say. She had been weak, and this individual- this _presence _\- decided to take advantage.

"And now, I can help you once more," it said, leaning forward on the throne. "You can save Annabeth if you agree to fight for me. And once you slay the Ophiotaurus, you will be free from me."

Thalia wanted to kill whoever this was on the throne. But, the presence was right. It had been there for Thalia all this time, helping her through any situation she needed help through. It had an end goal, but Thalia didn't know what it was. If it wanted her dead, she'd be dead by now.

So why was she still alive?

"What's in it for you?"

"Thalia Grace," the presence said. The room began to take on a dark red tinge. "Your actions are in my best interest, for they will upset the established order. If you succeed and eliminate the gods, this world will be without protection. There will be a power vacuum. Minor gods will scramble to take the thrones. Demigods will challenge them. Ancient adversaries will rise to take their siege on this planet. It will be-"

"Chaos," Thalia said, so soft that it was like a whisper.

The being on the throne smiled. "Yes, child. But, soon, you won't be the only one here. Your friend is on the way. And I aim to collect him as well. So, go hunt, Thalia. Go hunt."


	18. Hunt

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Percy

Blackjack shot over Manhattan like a comet. Once the large Empire State Building came into view, Blackjack folded his wings and dove like a hawk. Their velocity increased steadily as they descended. His stomach disappeared as they flew towards the ground. The wind pulled Percy's face back- he felt like one of those cartoon characters who traveled really fast and their faces peeled off like a parachute.

Finally, Blackjack landed in front of the Empire State Building. It had been a while since Percy had flown so fast, so he had to hold his stomach to keep his dinner last night from coming up.

The air felt colder and more grounded here as opposed to Camp Half-Blood, which felt like a vacation spot at times. It felt like October weather in August, and he was glad that he ended up wearing a long-sleeve shirt under his breastplate. The streets around the Empire State Building were strangely empty, save for what looked like a flash mob about a few hundred feet to his left. There were no cabs, tourists, or food stands around. The only thing that seemed appropriate was the fact that the billboards were still on, advertising the newest television shows. The billboards were placed sequentially, starting from about seventy feet from the Empire State Building. Another billboard was placed about a hundred and fifty feet away, and another was placed about two hundred feet away. The billboards seemed to lead to the flash mob.

Percy frowned. "New York is never this empty. Especially around tourist landmarks like this. I don't like this."

_Me either, boss! I don't see any Pegasi here. Where's the representation?_

Percy hopped off Blackjack and rubbed his smooth, obsidian fur. "I don't know, but I figure that they're too fond of having Pegasi in the Empire State Building, buddy."

The wind blew, making Blackjack's coat ripple in the breeze. He put his head down slowly, like he was disappointed. His head then perked up, and Blakjack straightened up proudly. _No problem! I'll wait here! _

"No, _uh, _I don't know if I want people to be messing with you out here. Thalia's in with some pretty dangerous people at the moment, and I don't want them giving you a hard time. A lot of them have clear sight, too, and they would love to have a Pegasi.

Blackjacked snorted. _Who wouldn't want one of me? Plus, boss, can't you just wave your hand and say, "This is not the horse you're looking for." _

"That's from Star Wars."

_Oh, right. Well, can't you kind of create or control a…fog? Dew? _

"The Mist?"

_Yeah, that's the one! _

Percy looked away. "Chiron never taught me that. Neither did Thalia," he grumbled.

_Ah, well, it's okay, boss! Your hair is much cooler than both of them. _

"I don't even know if that's true," Percy said. "Regardless, take care, buddy."

Percy began to walk towards the automated doors.

_Wait! _

Percy stopped.

Blackjack pawed the ground nervously, and shook his entire body. _I saw you. You know, when Grover and I went to Montauk to come save you. You looked like you were really hurting, boss. Can I do anything else to help? _

Percy thought for a second, as he looked at the golden label for the Empire State Building. Juniper had told him that Grover took Blackjack to save him. Percy wondered if they ever considered the possibility that they may have had to stop Percy, just as he was here to stop Thalia now. Or, did they lways have faith that they'd be able to save him.

What if Percy had given in to the dark presence that was egging him on?

What if he had actually lost control? Would Grover have fought him?

The hairs on Percy's neck stood up. He turned to look at the flash mob, who had fallen suspiciously silent. Sure enough, everyone in the mob had turned towards Percy and was watching him. Children scowled at him. Adults watched him, with their arms crossed. Police began to move forward, running around a blockade of police cars. It was then that Percy realized that he was violating some kind of protocol by being there. Even if he was violating a blockade, a real mob in New York would not be that silent. There was something up with these people.

"Look, Blackjack, I know it was tough to see me like that," Percy said quickly.

The police officers hopped over the cars and barriers they had placed, and sprinted towards him.

Percy cursed. Riptide wouldn't work on these individuals, but guns would work on _him_. Something told him that they were not quite there to protect and serve. "But I'll be okay soon. I just have to go do this."

Percy was about to duck into the building when Blackjack stopped him once more by placing an oversized wing on his shoulder.

_She was a good lady, boss. Annabeth was one of my favorite people. She didn't stop looking for you when you had disappeared. She and I were on the frontlines, trying to find you. _

Percy appreciated the sentiment, but it was the wrong time. He couldn't stand there and talk to Blackjack about how much he appreciated him- he needed to go.

The police drew their weapons, closing the distance quickly. "By order of the Triumvirate Holdings, _freeze!_"

Percy uncapped Riptide and stared them down. He noticed they were passing a sewage drain. If they got much closer, he'd probably use that to distract them.

Blackjack, however, stepped forward. _I got this, boss. Go save your friend. _

Blackjack, in a glorious display, lifted off the ground in with a large flap of his wings. Blackjack then landed on one of the officers, breaking his leg. Blackjack used his wings to knock out another, and gave the final officer a brutal kick. The officer's neck snapped back, and his body slumped to the ground.

_Go, boss! _

Percy didn't need Blackjack to tell him thrice. He ran into the building to see the familiar lobby. The floors were polished and decorated with golden and silver illustrations. The lighting was dim, so as to give the area a more epic feel. The walls looked slick and were adorned with artistic renderings of the Empire State Building.

Percy made eye contact with the security guard. This guy was like a recurring video game character- all roads led back to him. Percy remembered the first time he had met him being over a decade ago, when he was bringing the lightning bolt back to Olympus. This time, however, the security guard looked disheveled. His blue uniform looked wrinkled and twisted out of place. He was drinking a cup of steaming tea, taking shaky breaths, and playing YouTube meditation tutorials on an iPad. He scrambled out of his chair when he saw Percy and pushed his iPad out of sight.

"You…" he said.

"Rodney," Percy said, with a tight voice. "You going to let me up easy this time?"

His eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, I'm chasing an angry girl who's about my age," Percy recounted. "She has these weird blue eyes and happens to be the daughter of Zeus. Have you seen her recently?"

Rodney's cornered look was enough to answer his question. He began to sweat as he looked around him for any sign of Thalia. "Is she here?" From his reaction, Percy figured that she may have been the catalyst of the guard's stress.

"She's not here. If she got past you, she's in Olympus."

He exhaled. "Can you stop her?"

"Yes," Percy said. "That's why I'm here. She's doing something dangerous, and I need to stop her. I have a plan to do so. I just need that security card you got."

Rodney eyed Percy warily. "What's the plan?"

"Well, I'm going to go up there and lure them into a false sense of security. I'm sure she didn't come here by herself, because she's the head of a pretty powerful organization. Is that true?"

Rodney nodded slowly. "There were about twenty of them."

"Right. She probably has them stationed strategically throughout Olympus to help cover her tracks. She's looking out for me to come by."

"And it's just you?" Rodney asked.

"It's me and some friends. They'll be coming a little later. But Thalia only knows about me. I just need you to let me up, and then to watch out for a bunch of people around my age. The code name will be 'Argo.' Once they come, let them through. They're demigods as well. We'll stop the scary girl, and we'll be out of your hair."

The guard looked Percy up and down. "You armed?"

Percy held up Riptide.

"Good," he said. "You'll need to be, if you're going to face her. Move it, kid. There's no time to waste."

Rodney threw the security card like a Frisbee to Percy, who caught it between his two fingers. Percy entered the flashy elevators and inserted the security card in the slot, which whirred and glowed blue upon submission. A red button then revealed itself on the dash, reading, _600\. _Percy pressed it, and took a deep breath as the doors closed. Percy knew it would be a while, so he took the time to close his eyes and relax.

Breakbot's song, "Baby, I'm Yours," played from the speaker on repeat. By the third loop, Percy opened his hands, letting the hilt of Riptide fall to his fingers. A pretty ugly scar ran through his hands like a creek, from where he tried to stop Arachne from using Riptide to cut his eyes out. When Percy put his hands together, the scars joined together like puzzle pieces.

For a minute, Percy wondered where they would be if Annabeth hadn't died. If he was able to save Annabeth from Arachne, they probably would have barely gotten away from Athena and Arachne. They could have regrouped at Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth would have let Hazel and Artemis know, so that they could dispatch their respective teams to support Camp Half-Blood in their defense against Athena and Arachne. They would have at least had a chance of surviving that.

Once it was all over, Percy and Annabeth would have continued their Montauk trip, and then ended it by visiting his family. They would've also looked at some apartments on the East Coast. Then would have come jobs and maybe an engagement. Thalia would have stayed with the Hunters. Percy would have still been retired. Annabeth would still be here today.

He wasn't able to save Annabeth from Arachne. But he could save Thalia from herself.

Finally, the doors slid open to reveal the stone walkway that he had seen a few times before. It was a little colder up here than it was in Manhattan below. Clouds hung from the sky like props in a stage play. The disembodied peak of a mountain stood before him, behind a set of steps. Even though the mansions, the gardens, the braziers, and the palace of the gods were beautiful, he didn't have time to get his breath taken away. He needed to get to Thalia before she could get to Bessie. The sky was an orange-red, as sunset fell over Olympus.

Percy sprinted over the bridge, up the stairs and ran through Olympus. The climate had turned tropical once more, and Percy felt himself getting hot in his long-sleeve. The speed of which he ran, though, helped cool him down. The gold and silver of Olympus' structures were just blurs as he ran. Nymphs giggled and watched him run. Satyrs teased him, running alongside him for a minute before doubling over laughing at their friends. Minor gods and other immortals huffed and complained as Percy passed. Some pointed at him and whispered.

One godling yelled out, "Didn't Poseidon teach you better manners?!"

Percy passed by parties, festivals, game shows, dances, birthdays, and any other celebrations you could think of. His sprint took him towards a fountain. As soon as he got close enough, he leapt over the concrete of the fountain, and landed on the water's surface. He slid a little, and then continued to run on the water until he got to the other side of the concrete. He then jumped back down and continued his journey.

He silently thanked Piper for her brutal workout- running through Olympus was no joke. It was, however, not as bad as working out with her.

Percy followed the main winding road up until he got to the uppermost level. White sidewalks pointed to several Ancient Greek buildings. Mist, the kind made of water, hung in the air, cooling him down. Percy caught the glimpse of rainbows throughout the area. He saw a group of nine performers wrapping up their instruments and giving interviews to employees for Hephaestus-TV. A small body of water wound through the level. Nymphs hung out in it, splashing one another with it and laughing. A few waved at him as he walked past. The gardens in this area glowed every color on the spectrum, including things that didn't seem realistic. Purple oranges grew from the ground, next to blue apples. Red pears hung from trees, near green pineapples. It was ridiculous.

Percy looked around. He didn't see any sign of weird things going on- just people hanging out. Percy looked in the distance to see that the road he was on led to the Olympian courtyard and, behind that, the golden and silver doors of the throne room. Two figures stood by the doors, but Percy couldn't make out who they were.

Just then, Percy felt like he was in danger. He ducked as a long needle flew past him and sliced a part of the tree behind him. It was so thin and moved so quick that it was nearly invisible. Percy's heart beat out of his chest as he looked at where it may have come from. He couldn't see anything, though, in the bunches of people walking around.

He was in danger.

Percy ducked behind the tree, and took out Riptide.

Thalia was here. And her friends from the Triumvirate were, as well. Percy wondered how many people worked for the Triuvmirate. Even the police were on her side.

Percy looked up to see a guy who looked about nineteen, pacing by one of the columned buildings. Sweat climbed down his face, and his hand lingered suspiciously near his sword.

"What would you need a weapon for in Olympus," Percy muttered. He probably didn't live there- he was probably working for the Triumvirate.

On cue, the guy made eye contact with Percy and pointed at him. He began running towards Percy, as well as five other people that came into view. Percy cursed and ducked on the other side of the tree. Unfortunately, this side saw two masked, armored women sprinting towards him with knives the size of guns. Percy moved to the midpoint of the tree and took a breath.

Percy then pushed off the tree, engaging the two women. They looked to be the most dangerous ones, and there was only two of them compared to the six coming at him from the other side. Percy charged them, but was forced to stop his advance when one of them threw two more slim needles at him. Percy ducked. The whistle of the needles sounded in his ears. Percy watched the women quick dash get into his personal space.

In a move he hadn't executed since the Minotaur, Percy leapt up with all his power at the very last second, leapfrogging over the women. Percy then landed behind them, and held his hand out to the spring.

_Work with me, here. _

The nymphs cocked their head as some of the water they were splashing each other with left their spaces and formed a jet of concentrated water. The blast hit one of the women as Percy swiped at the other with Riptide. The women dodged the swipe, and pulled out her giant knives. She slashed Percy's elbow, and then kicked him in the chin.

Percy's head snapped to the side as he stumbled back. He tasted blood in his mouth.

The six guys were almost on him, now, as well as the woman who had just kicked him.

_Make Annabeth proud in your combat, _Reyna had said. If he couldn't get past them, he definitely couldn't beat Thalia.

Percy used the water that blasted the one woman, and brought it over to him. He threw the water on the ground, and then, with a concentrated exhale, froze the water into ice. The sidewalk under their feet instantly turned into an ice rink. Suddenly, the people charging him didn't have as much coordination. They began to slide on the pavement, and their sword strikes went wild. Percy, however, used the water in the ice to keep his movements controlled and smooth.

One guy slid past Percy with a scream. Another was sliding _towards _Percy. As a result, Percy swung Riptide like a golf club, connecting with his chin and knocking him off his feet. Percy then sidestepped to let him slide past as well. The other four wised up quickly. They used their weapons to stop themselves on the ice, and began to skate towards Percy at their own speeds.

Percy couldn't let them collect themselves too much, though. He ran towards them.

Guy 1 prepared to swing an axe at Percy, but the Percy hit a baseball slide at the last second. The axe swing flew clear over Percy's head. As he was sliding, he used one hand to grab Guy 1's ankle. As he had Guy 1's ankle, Percy gave Riptide a backhand swing, slicing Guy 2's shin. Blood spattered on the ice, as Guy 2's sword swing hit the ice near Percy. Percy's momentum was enough to pull Guy 1 to the ground. He hit the ice, hard, sliding and tripping up Guy 2 as well. The two fell in a tangled knot of limbs and curses.

Percy jumped up and tried to drop-kick Guy 3 in the chest. However, Guy 3 was able to get his shield up in time, and block the brunt of Percy's strike. Percy then felt a movement behind him. He ducked and heard a sickening _squelch. _Percy looked up to see Guy 3 drop his sword and clutch his eye. A long, thin needle was where his eye should've been.

Guy 4's jaw dropped, and Percy used the opportunity to turn the ice underneath them back to water. The water flowed from underneath them and collected into a sphere that covered Guy 4. It was like a deadly version of the air bubble he had made in the Atlantic. Percy watched Guy 4 thrash in the water bubble like he was in a dunk tank. Percy then turned, with his hand out, and willed the water bubble to roll towards the female assassin. He watched as the assassin jumped out of the way. However, Percy extended the water bubble so the woman was consumed by it as well. Percy hardened the water on the edges, and made the currents chaotic, taking away any chance of them swimming out. The two rotated helplessly in the water bubble, holding their breath and fighting for air.

Just as the woman who got blasted with water stood up, she got hit with a rolling water bubble that exploded on impact, knocking her and the two people to the ground.

Percy took his chance to escape the area. The nymphs in the water fountain clapped and cheered as he ran towards the doors.

Two guards that looked well over seven-feet tall stepped from behind columns and stood in front of Percy. They held spears and shields, leveling them towards Percy as he approached. Percy kept his momentum going and began to wind up his body. He brought Riptide up and down against their shields, attempting to break their guard. Riptide connected with the shields, and a burst of force erupted from the collision. Percy couldn't get any ground though, as the guards pushed Percy back with their shields.

Guard 2 then stabbed his spear towards Percy. Percy tried to sidestep, but was a beat too slow. The point of the spear sliced open Percy's shoulder, and pain shot up his arm. Percy grabbed the wound and ground his teeth. If this was a few years ago, he would've been quick enough to evade the attack. But, as Reyna had alluded to, he was a bit out of step.

He couldn't overpower them with a few strikes from Riptide. These individuals seemed like seasoned fighters, and they were actually _in _practice. They also seemed quite used to fighting with one another, so he needed to separate them. Percy engaged them once again, this time going for two simultaneous attacks. He went for a sweeping kick for Guard 1. Guard 1 sidestepped, and both he and Guard 2 tried to stab downwards.

Percy, however, was able to dodge both strikes, spring up, and swing Riptide in a golden arc towards Guard 2's helmet. With his spear by Percy, Guard 2 could only put his shield up to block the sword attack. Guard 2 successfully blocked it, and countered with a spear strike. Percy used his free hand to catch the body of the spear. He then bent it at its focal point. The spear snapped in half with a satisfying _crack, _and Percy used one of the shards to stab it in Guard 1's leg. Guard 2 made the mistake of letting his eyes fall to Guard 1. Once he did, Percy repeated his action of swinging Riptide into Guard 2's helmet, disorienting him. Percy then ran Riptide straight through his side, a non-lethal strike that was sure to take him down for the time being.

Guard 2 grunted softly. With one well-placed swipe, Percy sliced off the shield straps and disarmed Guard 2 of his shield. Guard 1, now angry and in pain, charged Percy- now with a hobble from the spear fragments. Percy ran forward and used the momentum to throw the shield at a spot past the guard. Guard 1 dodged, laughing as he did so.

"I have you now!" he screamed, as he readied his spear to turn Percy into a fish kebob.

The shield, however, bounced off a nearby column and ricocheted back towards Guard 1, hitting him in the back of the head and sending him down for the count.

Before Percy could celebrate, he caught flashes of several figures of movement in his periphery. Percy scooped up Riptide and the shield, and turned to find three more guards, two demigods, and four masked women charging at him from different directions.

Percy didn't have time to think. He needed to _act, _or else he would get gutted from different directions. Percy tossed the shield like a disc towards one of the masked women, who swiped it out of the air effortlessly. They tossed it back to him without losing a step. Percy caught the shield and threw them in between the two demigods. Luckily, they were running close enough to one another that the shield hit both of their shoulders, sending them flying into the Olympian spring.

The large guards and masked women closed in, and Percy found himself rolling, dodging, and swiping for his life. The masked women were swinging their knives brutally, while the guards were stabbing their spears downward like they were forks and Percy was a particularly elusive piece of food. One of the masked women stabbed Percy in the shoulder, while one of the guards stabbed Percy in his leg. Percy slashed one of the masked women's masks off, and kicked back the guard who stabbed him.

Percy found himself caught in a whirlwind of slashes, cuts, and hits, one he couldn't get out of. It was like all of these individuals were professional fighters, and he couldn't quite get a breath in. One of the masked women cut a chunk out of his side, while another guard kicked him away. Two thin needles stabbed into his thighs, and a guard knocked into Percy like a football player, tackling him to the ground. The guard began punching him, like Thalia did years ago. Percy felt himself losing the fight to stay conscious. He heard laughter all around him. He felt himself bleeding in multiple spots.

_You got her resolve and resiliency as well, _he heard Annabeth say in his head. _You are strong. And you are good. _

He would not lose.

Percy gritted his teeth, and felt himself connect with the air around him. The condensation in the air formed around him, creating a soft water shield that encased his body. The guard's fists fell on the water instead of on Percy's face. Percy then pushed the water shield out towards the guard, forcing him back. Percy then did a somersault in the air. As he spun, the water in the air began to spin with him. By the time he landed, a swirling vortex of water was behind him. Percy then yelled, and the vortex turned into an offensive weapon, crashing, bending, and weaving into the Triumvirate fighters. They eventually were washed far away.

Percy stood, checking the wounds on his shoulder and his side. Luckily, it hadn't gone too deep, as the breastplate had absorbed some of the force. He also checked his thighs and removed the long, thin needles sticking out from them. Percy then began to limp towards the throne room doors, with Riptide in one hand and the needles in the other.

He approached the last two guards standing at the door, who tensed when they saw Percy emerge from the chaos. Percy tried to fling the two needles at them before they could react. However, they seemed to be ready for him. One of them dodged it while the one to the left caught it. The masked woman on the left took off her mask to reveal Clarisse LaRue, the daughter of Ares.

"Clarisse?!" Percy was twelve again.

She smirked at him. "Hey, dummy. It's been a while."

Percy could barely believe his eyes. He hadn't seen her in a long time- it was weird reconciling the presence of a character from his past with the current situation at hand. It was like she didn't belong there. "You're-you're with the Triumvirate Holdings? Clarisse, you're better than that."

"Better than that?" Clarisse put her hand out to the other masked woman to stop her from gutting Percy. "I'm not part of the Holdings. I'm fighting to take down the gods."

"To slay the Ophiotaurus, kill the gods, and bring back Annabeth?"

Clarisse shrugged. "The gods haven't done too much for me. What do I care about them for?"

"Clarisse, if Thalia succeeds, _she'll _be the one with all the power. She's not fit, and not ready to have all that power and be all that. She's not in her right mind right now."

"As long as she stays out of my way, she's in her right mind to me," Clarisse sneered. "You better pony up and change sides before it's too late."

"Before it's too late?! Clarisse, you were probably there on the ship when the Hunters tried to stop Thalia."

Clarisse remained silent. Percy took that as confirmation.

"You watched her fight her own Hunters! How long until she comes for you?"

Clarisse looked at something behind him. "I don't know. But it won't be for a while. Which is more time than you have."

Percy turned to see the eighteen people he just fought, up and facing him. They were all jogging towards him.

"Looks like you're in trouble now," Clarisse laughed. "Should've killed them when you had the chance."

Percy gripped Riptide. "Yeah, well…I gave them a chance to stay down."

He then glared at Clarisse. "I thought we were friends."

She smiled. "We still are, punk. No hard feelings."

Percy turned back to the crowd. He couldn't take all of them at one time. His back hurt, his muscles were on fire, and he barely got past them in the first place. Olympus itself was starting to get dim, and the sunset was starting to turn into dusk. He only had a few hours of lighting left.

Percy turned to Clarisse. "What time is it?"

Clarisse frowned. "How should I know?"

"Because depending on the time, your entire operation-"

On cue, a bestial roar echoed from below the mountain.

"-would be in jeopardy."

In a glorious golden display, Festus flew into view, parallel to the Olympian mountaintop. Newly designed circular ion turbines were attached to his wings. Streaks cut through his face that glowed blue and red. The force charging Percy stopped in awe as Festus turned in the air and landed on the concrete. The pavement cracked under his weight.

Festus gave a huge roar, and Percy watched the passerby nymphs, godlings, and satyrs run to the lower levels.

Festus opened his mouth. "_Allllll right," _Leo announced through an intercom located in Festus' throat. "_Everyone who is not Percy, put your hands up. Or you're going to see the full power of the Argo III, otherwise known as Festus 2.0." _

No one put their hands up. Festus turned towards Percy and cocked his head. Percy shrugged, as if to say, _Let's do it. _

Festus nodded, and Leo's voice came over the intercom once more. "_Festus. Battle mode._"

Out of Festus' back erupted a huge cannons. Large crossbows came up on top of Festus' head, as well as the bottom. Festus' teeth began to spin until they became a mouth full of drills. Festus' eyes began to glow red.

"_Nothing to say, Calypso?" _Leo asked. He seemed to have forgotten to turn off the intercom. "_No peace or healing to give? No? Wonderful." _

Then, in a terrifying display, Festus attacked the group. Machine gun fire erupted noisily from the cannons as crossbows shot from either side of Festus' head. Festus opened his drilling mouth and blew blue fire that melted columns, destroyed trees, and singed statues.

"What the-" Clarisse started.

Percy grinned. "No hard feelings," he said, before swinging Riptide at Clarisse's head, knocking her down. Percy then dodged a knife swipe from the other masked woman, grabbed her arm, and flipped her over his shoulder. He then threw her away from the throne room doors with all his might. She flew surprisingly far- over the courtyard and past _most _of the steps. She landed on the third step from the top, and fell down the rest of the stairs. She got up slowly, only for Festus to turn towards her. Festus' eyes opened up and shot gallons of hot sauce right on her. Unfortunately, the mask only covered her mouth, so she screamed when the sauce got in her eyes.

Festus finished his hot sauce shot and chirped happily at Percy. Percy nodded at him.

"Thanks, big guy," he said, before pushing open the doors.

_Fifteen minutes. _

It always shocked him how big the throne room was, bigger than Grand Central station. The sleek hardwood floors included the designs of bronze clockwork underneath the surface, which reminded Percy of Hephaestus' work. Columns bigger than Festus supported the throne room. The domed sky held shifting star constellations. The twelve giant thrones that were usually arranged in a _U _shape were now eleven. One of the thrones, Athena's throne specifically, looked to be in shambles. Golden energy came from it, like steam from a hot dish. The throne room wasn't as dark or destroyed as the one in Thalia's dream, which was a relief.

There were only a few points of concern- the hearth pit was empty, lacking the blazing fire that served as Hestia's domain. She was rarely absent from that- even during the Kronos attack, she was someone willing to defend Olympus. Now, even here, she was nowhere to be sound. The throne room felt cold without the hearth.

The second point of concern was perhaps the more important one- Thalia stood in between the smoking remains of Athena's throne and the empty hearth pit, kneeling towards Zeus' throne. She wore black and brown leather armor, with a weird black cloak over it. She stood quickly and looked at Percy.

She looked tired and distraught, like her worst fears had been confirmed by him showing up. She was holding her spear, which was smoking like the remnants of Athena' throne.

Percy stepped forward. His footsteps echoed in the empty room. He was miserable- he never wanted to do this, to confront Thalia in this manner. They were always supposed to be working together, not against one another.

Thalia pointed her spear towards him. Her face tightened.

"Stop," she said simply. Her voice reverberated through the room. "Don't come any closer."

_Fourteen minutes. _

Percy stopped. He relaxed and reinforced his grip on Riptide. For what seemed like eternity, the two of them looked at one another. Nothing was said, and yet, everything was communicated. The two of them had known each other for a while, so they knew each other's body language. Thalia's poise looked lithe and tense, like she was ready to attack at the first sign of a sudden movement. A scar was swiped horizontally across her left cheek.

There was no sign of Bessie quite yet- the spherical cage for the Ophiotaurus that was usually at the center of the room was nowhere to be found.

_Twelve minutes. _

"What did you do to them?" Thalia yelled. She looked on edge, and trembled like she was in pain.

"Them?" Percy asked. "You mean your subjects that tried to kill me out there? You mean Clarisse and company?"

Thalia's spear lowered slightly. "They tried to kill you?" Her voice lost a little bit of the accusatory tone that was initially there.

"I have wounds in my shoulder and my legs that prove it."

"Are they still alive?" There was real pain in Thalia's eyes, like she was bracing to bear the news of her crew's deaths.

"I made sure to be non-lethal with them, like-"

"-Luke taught us," Thalia finished. Luke was always a talented swordsman, so it didn't surprise Percy that Thalia knew what he was talking about.

A large explosion sounded from outside, shaking the throne room. Thalia looked at the doors past Percy, and then to Percy- tacitly demanding an explanation.

"Oh, Leo, Piper, and company piloted Festus here to give me backup," Percy said, matter-of-factly.

"Are they coming in here?" Thalia asked.

_Eleven minutes. _

"Not if you cooperate," Percy responded. "I told them to let me talk to you first. If I don't come out in fifteen minutes, though, they have orders to make their entrance."

"Fifteen minutes?"

"Fifteen minutes," Percy repeated. "And four of them have already passed. Come with me, Thalia."

Thalia said nothing.

"It's not too late to turn back," Percy said. "The gods can be here any second."

Thalia shook her head. "They won't be coming."

Nervous energy flowed through Percy's body. Percy didn't see the multi-colored flames coming off Thalia's body, like how it did in the dream when she held the power of the Ophiotaurus. His dreams, however, tended to be dramatic at points.

"Did you kill them already?" Percy asked.

Thalia shook her head. "There are larger forces at play, here, Percy. And they're on my side, at least for now."

"What did you do?" Percy asked.

_Ten minutes. _

"Nothing you need to know about, if you turn around, walk out that door, let Festus know you're okay, and just mind your business."

"Or," Percy said. "Or, you could come with me and we could go to Festus together. I'll help protect you against anything that may happen."

"You wouldn't disobey the gods like that."

"I wouldn't?" Percy couldn't believe his ears. "I was always the kid at school who broke the rules. I'd break the rules to protect you."

Thalia's eyes began to turn red. She was quiet for a beat.

_Nine minutes. _

Finally, she said, "You'd be on the run for a long time."

"That's fine with me."

"The gods wouldn't rest until they found you."

"Cool."

"Poseidon wouldn't be happy with you either."

She may be right- however, Poseidon may help hide Percy depending on what he was feeling at the moment. "That's no problem. We can go to McHale's."

Thalia nodded, a tear climbing down her cheek. In a voice barely above a whisper, she asked, "Would you break the rules, Percy?"

"I would."

"Even if it meant breaking the rules for Annabeth?"

Percy fell silent. She had talked him into a trap, to convince him that her way was the best way.

Then, Percy felt something. A soft _moo, _inside his mind. Percy suddenly felt the presence of seawater, a controlled amount, right in the center of the throne room. Yet, Percy couldn't see anything. He squinted, trying to see if there was any Mist, there- but there was nothing.

_Eight minutes. _

Percy looked at Thalia. She was still waiting for an answer. He couldn't be too suspicious, though, if he got distracted by this. "Thalia, look up at the constellations. Please."

Thalia hesitated, then glanced up. Percy saw a familiar constellation and pointed to it. "You see that constellation? Shifting towards your left. Eight stars."

Thalia nodded. "Yes."

"That's up there for Annabeth. A constellation. For her. She's gone, Thalia. But she's honored not only in our hearts and memories, but also in the stars."

A few tears traced down Thalia's face as she looked up at it. "It's beautiful."

"Yes, it is. And we can honor her by doing what she'd want from us."

Thalia nodded. "You see that one?" she asked, pointing with her spear.

Percy followed her movements to find a familiar constellation- a gleaming one, of a girl running across the stars.

"The Huntress," Percy repeated. His heart tugged as he remembered Zoe and her death.

"Zoe was killed in combat with her father. He didn't care about her."

Another _moo, _louder and more urgent this time, sounded in his head. It sounded like she was distressed, and was calling for Percy's help. One quick movement, though, and Thalia may decide to roast him with her spear.

_Seven minutes. _

Percy reached out, feeling the seawater. The water pulled back, right at his gut.

"Annabeth was killed due to a deal her mother made," Thalia said. "A deal she made in sound body and mind."

Percy tried to pull the water towards him, and felt it slowly moving. There must have been some kind of invisibility spell or charm on the sphere, resulting in Bessie being hidden from Thalia.

"Constellations and honoring doesn't fix the injustice, Percy. What I'm doing will.

Percy pulled Bessie closer to him. If he could get the Ophiotaurus past Thalia and closer to him, he could make a break for it, bring the Ophiotaurus into Festus, and maybe get away.

Suddenly, Percy heard a _bang, _as the sphere fell to the ground. It was still invisible, but it may as well not been. It must have been floating.

Thalia had found its location.

Thalia's sad expression morphed into one of anger, as she used her spear to shoot a column of electricity towards the noise. Percy pulled it back towards him as quickly as he could, but it wasn't quite quick enough. The purplish-blue strike of electricity connected with an unseen object, resulting in whatever charm or spell was on it to be relinquished.

In between them lay a sphere of water, with the Ophiotaurus swimming around in it. It pushed its head towards Percy, as if it was trying to will itself closer to its protector.

Thalia looked at Percy, but Percy was already pulling the Ophiotaurus towards him. The sphere of water shot towards his hand and attached itself to his outstretched palm like it was magnetic.

_Six minutes. _

Thalia scowled. "Drop it."

"No," Percy said simply.

"I'm sorry for this," Thalia muttered. Thalia moved, faster than she should've been able to move. Percy could've sworn that he saw a spark of electricity erupt under the balls of her feet, propelling herself towards him. In a flash, she was behind him. With a yell, she kicked him in the back with the strength of ten telkhines. Percy's body folded slightly as he fell down the stairs and towards the hearth pit. Bessie's cage bounced out of his hand, but reattached itself once Percy focused.

Percy saw Thalia move her hand towards her wrist, but seemingly decide against it. She gripped her spear with two hands, and charged Percy. It was one of the scariest sights to see, even without Aegis. Her eyes looked fractured, like she was not all there. Her face, however, registered little emotion. It looked like she was calculating a million ways to take Percy down, reminding Percy of how Annabeth would be in combat.

_Five minutes. _

Thalia jumped off the top step and flew towards Percy with an overhand spear strike. Percy put up Riptide, blocking her strike. His arms nearly gave out- Thalia was pretty strong. However, with his footing, he was able to withstand her attempt to overpower him. She then raised her spear again. Percy prepared to parry her again, but Thalia's hand placement changed. Instead of bringing down the spear like a hammer, she wielded the spear like a bo staff. She thrust the blunt end of the spear into Percy's chest- not hard enough to puncture his breastplate, but hard enough to throw him off balance.

Thalia then twirled the spear in her hand, and swept the spear in an upwards motion, cutting a gash in Percy's chin and lip. Static electricity followed the puncture, making the scar burn even more. Percy stumbled, and fell backwards into the empty hearth pit. The Ophiotaurus cage rolled away from him towards the throne.

_Four minutes. _

Thalia sprinted towards it. Percy took the opportunity to roll away from her, pop up, and move towards Athena's destroyed throne. He saw Thalia close the distance between her and the cage, so he put his hand out and reached out to it. The sphere flew away from Thalia just as he was reaching for it, and re-attached itself to Percy's hand. Blood fell down his lip as he stared down Thalia. Bessie mooed happily, and did a flip in the cage.

Percy made a break for it. At this point, outside was safer than in here- there were several distractions and barriers that Percy could use. If he could just to Festus, he could get Bessie to safety, whether that meant taking her to Poseidon or something completely different.

He heard Thalia yell, "No!" Immediately, Percy felt wind permeate the usually breeze-less Olympian air. The wind blew brutally against Percy, so much so that it was hard to breathe. Percy felt other blasts of wind attack him from other directions, completely cutting off his oxygen. Percy thrashed at his throat, and felt his vision pulse.

He couldn't breathe.

"Drop it," he heard Thalia say over the wind.

_Three minutes. _

Percy tried to make a noise or signal to Thalia, but his body was not responding.

He couldn't breathe.

"Drop it," he heard once more, this time much closer.

Percy fell to one knee. His body instinctively attempted to claw at his throat, but the winds were knocking his hand away. He felt lightheaded. His lungs were on fire. Finally, he lost focus and control. The cage fell to the ground. Thalia didn't let him out of her grasp, though. Instead, drafts of air formed at Percy's feet, picking him off the ground. Mini tornadoes held him suspended in the air, and but Percy still couldn't breathe.

His vision began to blur. His mouth became dry. His tongue instinctively flapped around his mouth, trying to grasp some oxygen.

A few seconds before he passed out, Percy noticed a large deep sea fisherman's chair made of gray, green, and white marble. It was decorated with corals, gold chips, and pearls.

Poseidon's throne.

_Two minutes. _

Percy remembered feeling the power of the sea when he had sat on the throne. Percy took the last dregs of his consciousness to focus on the throne. He began to pull on it. As he did so, the throne began to become wet. It then became wetter, until water was falling down the chair like a waterfall was right above the throne. The water then concentrated into several blasts of water and shot towards Thalia's back. It pushed Thalia out of view, and she dropped Bessie's sphere of water. She lost concentration, and Percy fell to the ground, gagging and gasping for air.

Percy opened his palms, and the water rushed from the throne, forming tendrils of seawater. The arms shot towards Thalia, who opened Aegis to block them.

"Percy, please!" Thalia yelled, as the spray from the water and the shield made her hair and face damp.

Percy didn't stop. He felt currents of anger forcing its way through his bloodstream, and Percy only intensified the flow of water. The throne room began to flood.

Thalia yelled out, shooting a blast of electricity towards Percy. He dodged, only to have the blast hit a column. The column's integrity became compromised, and began to crack.

"Percy!" Thalia yelled.

Percy felt angry. He was done playing around with Thalia. He needed to save her.

A full-fledged flood coursed through the room, rising until they overtook the seats of the throne. Percy, now underwater, jetted towards Thalia. Thalia tried to stab downwards, but her movement was slowed. Percy's however, was not. He easily dodged her slow-motion stab, and sliced at her stomach, drawing blood. Thalia swam up, using the winds to propel her upwards in the air. She then fell onto a floating Aegis, essentially surfing her way towards the far left wall of the throne room. Percy followed her, but he wasn't quick enough to beat her to the wall.

Thalia reared her Aegis hand back, and punched the Olympian throne room wall with the edge of her shield as hard as she could. Even with the electricity to back up the strike, the wall only cracked.

_One minute. _

Percy increased his speed towards her and let Bessie's cage fall from his hand. He changed the currents around the cage so it went against the current, back towards the thrones. Percy continued pushing himself to the wall, and brought his hand back.

When he was just far enough, Percy leapt out of the water and tried to punch Thalia with the force of the sea behind him.

She jerked to the side at the very last second, and fell off Aegis into the waves, like she was expecting him.

Percy's fist hit the wall instead, punching a huge hole in the Olympian throne room. Pain shot through his hand as it connected, and he watched as the water began to pour out of the hole. Percy caught a glimpse out the hole and saw open air, leading off the mountain and down towards the clouds.

Thalia had tricked him, draining the water like one would drain a bathtub- removing a cork and letting the water funnel out.

Percy held himself in the throne room using the water, but watched the water level in the large room steadily drop. For a terrifying second, he couldn't see Bessie.

"Bessie!" he yelled.

Instead of the Ophiotaurus, he saw Thalia jump out the water, holding Aegis. She tackled him, momentarily breaking his concentration that was holding him on top of the water. The two of them tumbled into the water, with the current nearly pushing them out the hole. Percy, however, was in front of Thalia- subsequently, he fell through first. Before he could fall, he formed a handhold using the water and grabbed it for stability. Thalia was able to stop herself by stabbing her spear through the floor. Thalia then waited until the water poured over Percy and drained out the throne room before flipping to her feet.

Thalia stood over him, watching him hold onto the ledge. She was drenched, and glowered at him. She was holding her spear and Aegis. For a second, he thought she would thrust the spear into his shoulder and kick him out into open air.

Instead, she sighed. "I'll save you, but only after I take care of my business. Hold on tight."

Thalia walked away from him.

_Ten seconds. _

"Thalia, please," Percy said. "Don't do this."

There was no response, though. Most of the water had drained out, except for the handhold he had made out of hard water. Percy tried to pull himself up, but his arm was too tired to support his body weight.

Percy then had an idea. He looked down to the misty and cloudy Manhattan below. If he had to lose this, then Thalia would lose too. There was one place where he knew she wouldn't want to follow him. Percy let Riptide fall from his hand and into the open air, giving himself a free hand for a moment. The sword spun and fell towards the clouds and city below. He then pointed his now-free hand towards the hole, willing the Ophiotaurus cage to rush towards him as quickly as possible. Percy felt it moving quickly towards him.

He had to time this just right.

_Five seconds. _

He then heard rolling, and footsteps following quickly.

He had to time this just right.

_Three seconds. _

Finally, the cage shot out the hole.

"NO!" he heard Thalia yell.

_One second. _

Percy pushed himself off the handhold, outstretched his hand, and brought the cage to him.

Thalia's hand shot out and barely grazed the cage as it fell towards him. Unfortunately, Thalia's center of balance was thrown slightly too off-kilter, and she tipped over the edge.

Percy and Thalia tumbled out of the Olympian throne room, falling into the air.

The doors to the Olympian throne room burst open, and Percy heard Festus' roar.

Percy was falling, though, and grasped the Ophiotaurus cage under his arm like a football. He closed his eyes. He was theoretically aware that Olympus was not _actually _right above Manhattan, but he also knew that it was kind of in its own plane of existence. The two of them were falling, and he didn't know where they would fall to.

_If you fall through a demiplane, where do you go? Do you fall forever? _

_Am I ready to die? _

All he knew was that Bessie was with him, which was the second safest place besides Festus at the moment.

Thalia screamed for dear life as she fell. Percy wasn't sure if it was her powers, or the additional weight from her armor and Aegis- but she was falling a little faster than he was. Percy heard her screams get closer to him, coming from his left side. He shifted the Ophiotaurus to be attached to his right hand, as Thalia came down near him.

The two of them, without even thinking, reached for one another's hands.

Their hands connected as they fell from heaven, thousands of feet into the unknown.


	19. Thunderstorms

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Thalia

Thalia felt like she was lifting out of her body as she fell off Mount Olympus. She couldn't stop herself from screaming her lungs out as they fell through the air.

They fell towards the sparse clouds. Despite him not having any free hands, Thalia saw Percy put out his Ophiotaurus hand towards the clouds. He closed his eyes, but it seemed like they were falling too quickly for anything to happen. They fell through the clouds, which felt like going through a wall of moisture and cold. Thalia saw the stone walkway rush past them as they fell towards the hazy Manhattan below.

Despite the last fifteen minutes, she was currently glad he was here with her. She didn't wake up today thinking that she'd be tumbling off Olympus. Now that she was, though, she didn't know if she'd want to be falling with anyone else. She knew that Olympus was not directly over Manhattan- if you dropped an orange off Mount Olympus, it wouldn't eventually splatter on the New York streets. No one quite knew where Mount Olympus was in the universe- some Hunters theorized that it was in a plane by itself, in some other dimension parallel to their own.

Thalia guessed she'd find out soon enough. Her voice became lost to her as she continued to fall. She had heard stories about what it was like to free-fall, but nothing could quite prepare Thalia for this. Her organs blended together and she could feel the sensation of _falling _in every part of her body. She couldn't even think straight at the moment.

The image of Manhattan beneath them began to ripple, like a stone hit a pond. The reality around them started to stretch, thin, and warp around them. Mount Olympus was no longer visible, as everything began to flatten.

Thalia felt Percy's hand tighten around her. Under different circumstances, she would've punched him for that. Now, though, she was relieved that he did so; she could return the gesture without feeling bad. The two of passed by a barrier of pure energy, as they began to move at speeds that Thalia didn't think was possible to access. Not even Artemis' chariot or Apollo's sun-car moved a fraction of how fast they were moving. She even suspected that wind travel was not as fast as they were going.

The reality around them had bent and flattened so much that their surroundings were mostly black, save for a white dot in the distance. Weird noises, sensations, and feelings ignited around Thalia as she and Percy fell towards the white glimmer. The white dot slowly expanded and sucked the two of them in. She was materializing and dissolving, being torn apart and put back together. There was so much going on, that the only thing she focused on was the warmth of Percy's hand.

She gripped it for dear life. She didn't know if these were her last moments.

Annabeth's face flashed through her mind. Her ethereal image from the Pond in New York, specifically.

_Thalia, please. _

_I'm sorry, Annabeth. _She would've said it out loud, but she was incapable of thinking.

Suddenly, a _bang _and a flash of colors rushed through Thalia's vision. The images around her slowed and expanded until they were to proportion. Thalia blinked a few time, and saw that they were falling towards the top of a mountain. They were about two hundred feet, and they were falling _fast. _If they didn't do something, they would be puddles on the mountain. Thalia reached out to the air around them, and closed her eyes.

She needed to save Annabeth. She needed to save Percy. She needed to save herself.

Thalia couldn't tell what happened next, but the next thing she knew, a huge air pocket had formed under the two of them. Their rapid fall gradually slowed to a casual float, and they landed softly on the top of the mountain, thousands of feet from the ground. Percy had the Ophiotaurus cage tucked under his arm like a large football.

Once they landed, Percy and Thalia quickly let go of each other's hands. Thalia wasn't sure if it was her or Percy, but beads of sweat clung to both their hands. They both wiped their hands on their pants.

Percy exhaled. "Let's not do that again," he said, smiling at Thalia.

Thalia couldn't smile back. Instead, she looked around her. She didn't know where they were- all she could see were snow-tipped mountains and large valleys. Green grass clung to the sides of the other mountains. The valleys were starting to look green and yellow. The mountains themselves ranged in color, from light brown to dark. As the landscape proceeded, the mountains started to look blue in color, blending into the midnight blue of the evening sky. A crescent moon hung above them in a twisted smile. The moonlight reflected off the now to illuminate the surroundings around them.

It was somehow both humid and freezing up on top of the mountain they were on. The winds were sharp and unforgiving- Thalia suspected that those winds were different winds than the ones that saved them. Luckily, the _chlamys _and the leather armor kept her from freezing. Already, though, her ears were starting to get cold and her throat was starting to get scratchy. It was a weird feeling- Hunters didn't usually catch colds, so Thalia figured that tomorrow (if there was a tomorrow) would be the first time she'd be feeling sick for the first time since she was fourteen.

Thalia looked at Percy. "Where are we?" Instantly, she kicked herself for asking. Percy had just gone through the same experience Thalia did, and somehow he'd know where they were?

Percy closed his eyes. "We're by a sea, I think. I'm getting…39.0192° N, 25.2686° E? It may have been a little better if it we were on the ocean."

Thalia's mouth dropped as she looked out. "That's east. That's…way east. And it's by the sea…"

She looked at Percy. "And…we fell off Mount Olympus? Guess where we are."

Percy swallowed nervously. "Mount Olympus?"

Thalia nodded. "The original one. The one in Greece."

Percy looked around, and ran his free hand through his hair. "Greece, huh? I guess I won't make it home for movie night then."

"It must've taken us back to where Olympus used to be, the formal focal point of its power."

Percy turned around, looking at the view around them. Thalia's eyes fell from him to the Ophiotaurus. Once the Ophiotaurus saw Thalia's stare, it shrunk away, mooing softly. Percy must have heard it, because he turned around to look at Thalia.

He frowned. "Hey…we're cool, right? Like, you're relaxed now?"

"Relaxed?"

"Yeah. I mean, we're-" Percy gestured around him. "-in Greece. We'd have to work together to find our way home."

Thalia felt bad disappointing him, but she had to. He looked so pleading, like he was praying she'd say yes. But she was here for Annabeth- not to give up everything she had worked for. Percy was literally holding the only thing she needed to make her visions come true.

"Percy, I need that cage."

Percy shifted the cage so his body was between it and Thalia. "Don't do this, Thalia."

"What are you really fighting for here, Percy?" Thalia asked. "Are you fighting for the gods right now?"

Percy looked trapped, like he didn't know how to answer that question. "I'm trying to stop you from making a bigger mess out of this than Athena already did."

Thalia blinked. She didn't know why that caught her off guard so much. "So, all this is you trying to save me? Or stop me?"

Percy didn't answer, or otherwise react. He just looked at her, with a slightly sad expression. The wind howled around them, blowing his hair around.

"And I'm trying to save Annabeth," Thalia said softly. "Don't you see? That's all this is. You're trying to save me, and I'm trying to save Annabeth. You can save me by helping me with this. You help me, we bring Annabeth back. And, just as you said, we fight for our lives once the gods come for us. You, me, and Annabeth. Just like old times."

"We'd just be missing Grover," Percy said distractedly, searching her eyes. His face looked forlorn, like he was slowly losing hope.

Thalia needed to act fast, before this escalated. "We could be unstoppable together. Even Nico admitted that."

Percy closed his eyes. "So, that was you who did that to Nico?"

Thalia didn't know how Percy knew about that- it wasn't like he and Nico were best friends.

"Hazel said he had injuries that looked like ropes of fire went through him."

_Oh. _

"Is he okay?" Thalia asked. She felt like an asshole asking the question, but she needed to know.

"He's fine," Percy said, irritation laden in his voice. "He healed up, so I think he's okay. But, Thalia, this isn't what Annabeth would've wanted. I mean, hurting friends?"

"You keep saying that," Thalia said, feeling her voice raise. "But I knew her better than you _ever _did. Luke and I practically raised her."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Then you'd know that she'd think this is ridiculous. All those arguments you made? About Annabeth searching for me and not giving up? She probably did that because she knew that if there was any chance that I was alive, she was going to try and find me."

"You know she would've tried to bring you back too? She loved you too much," Thalia said, thinking back to how committed Annabeth was to finding Percy a few years ago. She had given a particularly rousing speech to Artemis and the Hunters, trying to motivate them to put their all into finding Percy.

"So? That doesn't make it _right, _Thalia. I'd be doing this same thing if Annabeth was trying to bring you back."

"You know I saw Annabeth?" Thalia said. She was going to keep it to herself, as she knew that it was a sensitive topic. But, Percy wasn't understanding, and she had to get through to him. "I saw her. When I was with Nico, I saw her ghost."

Percy went white in the face. "You _what_?"

"I saw her. Clear as day, not reincarnated quite yet. She looked sad, Percy. She even said-"

"What did she say?" Percy jumped in, moving closer to her. There was a desperation in his eyes that almost made her back away from him.

"She said, 'Thalia, please.' That's what she said. According to Nico, she knew what I was going to do. And the first words out of her mouth are those two words? She _wants _me to save her, Percy. And I'm going to. If I give up now, nothing would change. All this would have been for nothing. I've gone through quite a few people to get here. If you stand in my way-"

Thalia took out her spear and unleashed Aegis. She saw the shield's effect take control- the wind even blew against Percy, and he took a few steps back. "-I'll go through you too."

Percy looked like he was blinking back tears. The cut on his lip from her spear attack on Olympus looked particularly deep and painful. "Please don't make me do this."

Thalia felt like punching the side of the mountain. She didn't ever think it would come to this.

But, here they both were.

Two stubborn souls that refused to budge.

She pointed the spear towards him. She had to make this fast- Percy was one of those fighters that only got stronger as he got angrier. He was actually pretty clever too, so the more time he had to get familiar with his surroundings, the more formidable he would be. Basically, the more time she lingered around, the harder it would be to get past him. He wouldn't go down without a fight, and if she wanted to maximize her chance of bringing him down, she had to do it early and soon.

The wind felt like needles on her face. She could see her breath. "Give me the cage, Percy."

Percy dropped the cage behind him, reached into his pocket, and took out a pen. Thalia just realized that he didn't have Riptide out when they were falling off Mount Olympus- yet it was here, in his hand. It must've did that thing where it reappeared in his pocket. Thalia tried not to think about how cool that was.

Percy uncapped the pen and raised his golden-bronze blade towards the air. His breastplate refracted the moonlight off it to make it glow. His face turned steely determined, and his eyes turned defiant. "Come get it."

Thalia felt a growl escape her as she charged him. She just needed to get to the Ophiotaurus, not kill him. She tried for a swipe at his torso, where he had swiped at her, but he sidestepped. The cage attached itself to his back, which must have taken concentration on his part.

She needed to break that concentration if she wanted the cage.

Thalia swung once more, and Percy parried it. Sparks flew from the impact.

She swung again, and he swiped it away. It unsettled her how he watched her without blinking, like he was analyzing her moves just as Annabeth used to do. Thalia knew she needed to catch him off guard, like how she did on Olympus. Any moves she used up there wouldn't work twice, though- he was probably looking for it now.

Thalia rushed him, feigning like she would run him through with her spear. As Percy moved Riptide to parry, she pivoted, slid, and used Aegis to ram it in to his knee. Percy's knee buckled, and the Ophiotaurus cage fell off his back, rattling behind him. Thalia twirled her spear with her right hand and hit him with the blunt part of it like a baton.

Percy stumbled, and Thalia tried to make a break for the cage. Right when she was about to grab it, it zoomed out of reach and right back into Percy's hands. He palmed the Ophiotaurus cage like it was a basketball. He gave slow and steady breaths as he looked at her.

"You're not getting to him," Percy breathed.

"Move," Thalia said.

The tension between them became charged. Clouds began to form, and the already potent humidity only got stronger. The wind screamed with Thalia as she charged him. She opened her arms like she was going for a running hug, but then tried for a swing from the right with her spear and from the left with Aegis. Percy dodged the spear swing, and parried the Aegis swing with Riptide. Percy then kicked her in the shin, knocking her off-balance. Percy took advantage; he jumped up straight in the air and kicked her in the chest, prompting her to stumble back a few feet.

Thalia glowered with anger. She charged her spear with electricity and used it to channel a blast towards Percy. However, Percy blocked it with his sword. The glowing sword took on a blue/purple tint to it momentarily as it absorbed the energy, before returning to its original color. Percy then charged her, in a rare offensive move. Thalia shot at him again, trying to aim for his chest. However, Percy read her movements easily, blocking the blast with his sword. Thalia kept the electricity coming, though. She hoped that his sword had some kind of limit and would shatter.

However, Percy kept pushing forward slowly, using Riptide as a makeshift shield. He then spun away from the blast and leapt towards her at an angle. He brought the sword down on her, but Thalia just barely got Aegis up to block the sword strike. A huge _clang _erupted from the impact.

Thalia took the opportunity to stab her spear towards his breastplate. He turned his body so as to avoid the stab. Thalia was about to follow up with a roundhouse swing from Aegis when Percy grabbed her arm from the missed stab attempt. Even with her at full weight (between her armor, her shield, and her spear), Percy turned and used his momentum to flip her over his shoulder. Thalia landed _hard _on the rock, and pain shot up her back. The landing knocked her spear out of her hand, just out of reach.

Thalia knew Percy would be expecting her to lay there and lick her wounds, so she needed to counter quickly. Thalia swept Percy's leg from under him, prompting him to fall as well. While on the ground, though, Percy flipped Riptide in his hand like a knife and tried to pierce Thalia's shoulder. Thalia couldn't get Aegis over to that side in time, so she had to take the stab if she wanted her counterattack to be successful. His blade sunk through her armor, and Thalia winced.

It was a risky play- if the sword went to deep, Thalia's arm would be not be too useful. Luckily, it was only a flesh wound, and Thalia could bounce back. She needed to get the upper hand now. Thalia propped up and picked up Aegis. The edge of the shield scraped against the rock as she held it above her head. Her arms almost buckled against the weight of Aegis, but she maintained it. Thalia then swung the shield down like she was swinging a pillow in a pillow fight.

Percy put Riptide up to block, but the tiny sword couldn't block the entire impact. Thalia watched her shield slam onto Percy's arms and body. The impact seemed to shake his bones and his very core. His arms give out, and he seemed dazed. Before he could come to, Thalia lifted her foot and slammed it into his manhood. A squeak came out of Percy, and tears formed in his eyes. He wheezed as Thalia hopped off him and sprinted to the Ophiotaurus.

She was five feet away when she heard a familiar slicking noise. Suddenly, something grabbed both of her wrists and pulled them towards Percy. She looked to see that they were water tendrils; makeshift ropes meant to constrain her movement. The water was exceptionally cold. Thalia theorized it was probably from the snow on the mountains.

Percy had gotten better since the last time she had seen him fight.

Thalia strained against the water tendrils, but Percy strained right back. Neither one gave any ground. The two seemed locked in a standstill, unable to get the upper hand.

She couldn't let Percy Jackson, of all people, beat her though.

Irritation blew through the air as Thalia shouted, "Let. Me. GO!"

On _GO! _a large clap of thunder sounded not only in the sky, but also in the space between Thalia and Percy. A huge blast of force pushed them both back, severing the water chains. Thalia then created sparks under her feet and combined it with a gust of wind to move towards Percy as quickly as possible. She whisked towards Percy in the blink of eye, and delivered a roundhouse punch in the chin. Electricity sparked through her fists and a small explosion of force came through the hit. The punch drew blood, and Percy's head snapped to the side. His body crumpled to the ground.

"Stay down," Thalia yelled. She stomped towards the Ophiotaurus.

She stopped when she felt raindrops on her skin. She looked up to see rain falling from the storm clouds that had developed just a few minutes ago. The drops weren't just coming from the sky, though- the snow underneath her feet was starting to rise in droplets of water, like the spiders coming through the sand in Montauk. The water then began to move around her, encircling her and Percy in a huge cyclone of water. It was like he had created an arena made out of his own element. The cyclone raged around the top of Mount Olympus.

Percy slowly got up. Blood was spattered on his face. He didn't even try to dry himself off from the rain. His hair was slicked downwards, and the water slowly washed away the blood. He pointed Riptide towards her, and she couldn't help but gawk. His expression scared her- it was like the expression she saw at Montauk. It was a mixture of anger and even _hunger. _

"Don't get any closer to him," Percy growled. Somehow, over the rushing water encircling them, Thalia was able to hear him crisply.

Thalia opened her hand, and a gust of wind blew the spear into her hand. "Fine."

Thalia put the spear to the sky, and felt heat, power, and ozone flow from her into the sky. The clouds came together, and a bolt of white-hot lightning struck the spear and flowed into her body. For a minute, Thalia held the lightning inside her, acting like a human conduit. She then yelled and shot the lightning bolt through the spear at Percy. He compromised some of the water cyclone to create a wall of water in front of him. The lightning harmlessly hit the water.

Percy immediately countered with blasts of water that came at her from every direction. Thalia reached to the winds, and felt them raging.

_Listen to me. _

They continued blowing. Their alignment seemed chaotic, like they had no purpose but to torment.

"Listen to me!" Thalia said, pouring belief into her words. The winds stopped, and Thalia felt herself take control. She made a circle with her arms and watched as the winds began to blow once more, but in her image. The winds formed into mini-twisters that met the several blasts of water. The twisters consumed the water, blowing it so hard and so much that it turned into harmless sea spray.

"Let's do this," Thalia whispered. As she did so, several more air twisters formed. Some combined into a larger tornado. The tornado grew until it raged throughout the top of Mount Olympus. Percy tried to thrust his sword into the mountaintop to steady himself, but he didn't get the chance to. The wind picked him up and brought him into its chaos.

Percy screamed Thalia's name as he got pulled into the tornado.

Thalia willed one of the smaller twisters to her feet, and felt it carry her up towards the biggest tornado. She entered the gray twister, but saw and heard nothing but raging winds. She used her influence to keep herself from being overtaken by the tornado herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a golden glint. Thalia put up her spear just in time to bat away Percy's air strike. She watched as Percy got carried away from her, doing another round of his circular path in the tornado.

Percy came around again, yelling and swinging his sword once more. Thalia blocked it with Aegis this time, and watched as he got carried away to do another round.

Thalia ground her teeth. This was annoying to say the least- she, somehow, was on defense in her own tornado. Thalia willed the winds under her to carry her through the large vortex of wind, towards Percy. She must have caught him off guard, because his eyes were closed when she got close enough to see him. She pushed the winds a little bit further and closed the distance between the two of them.

Once she was a few feet away, Percy opened his eyes. His eyes widened as he saw Thalia right in his space. She caught him in the throat with her hand. He started to struggle and thrash, but she focused and channeled electricity through him. His body shook as the electricity cascaded through his body.

Then, his body went limp.

Thalia stopped shocking him immediately. "Percy?"

Her heart beat as she dispelled the winds save for an air pocket to take them safely to the ground. She carried Percy's body Superman-style, and set him down softly on the ground. Her tornadoes were no more, as well as the water cyclone. It was just the two of them.

Thalia tossed Aegis aside to free her hand up. Leftover water flowed under her feet, draining down the mountain. She bent down and checked his pulse.

Then, three things happened.

Thalia felt an extremely strong pulse throb from Percy's neck.

_Shit. He tricked me, _she thought, as the water beneath her began to encase her. It formed almost a form-fitting suit around her.

Percy stood and put his hand on the water. "Sorry, Thals," he said, before closing his eyes. Thalia felt nothing but frost and cold as the water hugging her body began to freeze onto her skin. Her bottom half of the body quickly fell still, followed by most of the top half. The frost was creeping towards her neck when Percy moved out of view. She heard him move towards the Ophiotaurus cage. She tried to run after him, but her body was unresponsive. It was like she was literally frozen in a block of ice.

The cold spread over her mouth. If she wasn't sick yet, she would be now.

More importantly, she couldn't shake the thought that she was going to lose.

_Fight, Thalia, _Jason's voice said in her heart.

_Fight, Thalia, _Annabeth's voice said in her mind.

_Fight, Thalia, _her mother's voice admonished, along with the deeper voice that belonged to the real entity behind it.

Even though her body was frozen, her will wasn't.

Her heart wasn't.

Her mind wasn't.

Her spirit was still very much on fire.

She forced herself to think of heat, ozone, and static. She kept thinking those things until she began to feel it. She kept chanting it.

She kept chanting it.

She kept chanting it.

She felt herself turn into an electrical opening. Then, the skies opened up in a blast of lightning struck her directly, singing off the frost. Thalia immediately turned and screamed at Percy, redirecting the lightning in arcs through her outstretched hand. Percy scooped up Aegis and held it in front of him, crouching behind it until he was no longer visible. The arcs of lightning hit Aegis, and kept striking it. Part of Thalia wished that the shield itself would break so she could reach Percy.

Aegis' integrity maintained, though. Percy continued to block himself and the Ophiotaurus using her shield. It was weird to see Medusa's decorated head screaming at her.

"Thalia, stop!" Percy yelled. "Please, stop this!"

Thalia tuned him out. Sentiment would only result in distraction.

She had an idea.

She continued to shoot Percy with electrical energy from her own hands, but willed the lightning falling from the sky to move towards Percy. As such, Thalia created two sources of attack; one from her own power reserves, and another from the sky. Sure enough, the lightning from the sky quickly moved over Aegis and struck Percy right in his body. Percy's grip on Aegis released, and Thalia's blast of electricity hit him as well. At this point, two strikes of lightning were singing Percy.

Thalia moved towards him, maintaining the blasts on both ends. She couldn't risk him getting up this time. Percy's unconscious body convulsed as the electricity surged into his body. Thalia reached him and willed both blasts to stop.

"Tha-" Percy whispered weakly.

Thalia then rose her spear and stabbed Percy in the chest, funneling as much electricity through him as he could. Her spear went through the breastplate, and pierced his chest.

The life left Percy's eyes. Percy's head lolled to the side. His body jerked intermittently as the occasional spark of electricity ran through his body.

"STOP GETTING UP," Thalia screamed at him with all her might. A thunderclap accompanied her scream. Thalia took Aegis and, in the rain, stormed towards the Ophiotaurus' cage. She raised her arms and stabbed the spear through the cage. Her strike, however, glanced off the surface of the clear cage.

She stabbed it again, letting out a guttural yell with each strike. She did so again, and again, each time prompting another memory of Annabeth to flash through her head. With the memory of Annabeth's death, Thalia pulsed electricity through her attack. With the combination of the repeated strikes and the energy that came through from her electricity, her spear cracked the cage. It was only the tip of her spear that was able to get through, but it was enough to scare the Ophiotaurus. It mooed desperately at Thalia, as if pleading with her to stop this.

"Please don't make this harder for me," Thalia said, as she continued to attack the cage. She could have shot electricity from the tip of the spear, but the Ophiotaurus had already ducked to the other side of the container, under the water. It trembled as it watched Thalia, mooing repeatedly.

She felt horrible. The rain washed away her tears as she continued her assault on the cage.

She apologized to the Ophiotaurus. She apologized to Reyna. She apologized to Artemis. She apologized to the Hunters. She apologized to Jason. She apologized to her mother, to Percy, and even to Annabeth for failing all of them in some kind of way. Her failure usually resulted in catastrophe. Reyna and Percy's mortal injuries, the Hunters fallen in battle, her brother's death, and Annabeth's murder were all because of her.

But she'd make it right. She had to.

She was so focused on the cage that she almost didn't realize the rain stopped falling. She looked up and away from the cage, with difficulty, to see that the rain didn't actually stop. It only changed directions, blowing all towards Percy's unresponsive body. Some of the rain blew in unnatural directions, curving wildly in the air. The water and snow from the mountain slicked up from the bottom to the top, like it was being pulled by a magnet. The rain blew towards Percy and hit him brutally, like it was trying to drown him. However, Thalia watched as the water encased him in a diamond-shaped cage. Thalia looked around as the fog in the air also began to condense and float towards him in drops.

She even felt herself get pulled towards Percy a little, but a strong two-handed thrust of her spear into mountaintop helped solidify her position. With her arms preoccupied, she could only watch as the Ophiotaurus' cage rolled over towards Percy as well. Percy rose in the air slowly, as the diamond grew thicker and thicker with water. Thalia saw his stab wound heal slowly, but steadily. After a little bit, it looked completely healed from behind the hole made in his breastplate. Percy's eyes then opened, glowing green.

"Percy?" Thalia heard herself say. She didn't like how conflicted she felt- relieved that he was alive, but annoyed that he somehow still had the energy to face her. Thalia tried to push down the swelling fear in her. She could have liked water. Now, because of Percy, she dreaded it.

The water continued to climb towards Percy. The Ophiotaurus cage flew to his hand. Thalia watched water fill the hole made in the cage, and watched it freeze over to make the cage closed once more.

"That's just not fair," Thalia muttered. Her body felt exhausted, like she could take a sixteen hour nap at any point in time. Her stomach still burned from Percy's sword swing. Her back ached, and her head pounded. Yet, here Percy was, leveling up.

Percy looked down at the Ophiotaurus and watched it do a triumphant flip. Percy's eyes flashed up to Thalia. He didn't even have to say anything for Thalia to know what he was communicating- this was the Percy she saw at Montauk. This was the Percy who tried to take on Athena. The Percy who was the true son of the sea god.

Thalia took out her spear, swung it and pointed to Percy. The rain, snow, and water had stopped flowing to Percy- now, it formed a funnel of water around him.

As powerful as Percy was, he was fighting to stop her from saving Annabeth.

And she could _not _let that happen.

Thalia pushed herself and controlled the winds once more. Ropes of wind formed around her, matching Percy's water funnel.

Thalia and Percy met one another's eyes.

Thalia made a promise to herself- she _wouldn't _lose. She _couldn't _lose, not if she was going to bring Annabeth back.

"Help me, Mom," Thalia whispered. She knew the force she was calling out to was not her mom. Rather, it was Chaos, the first and oldest primordial deity. The Hunters had heard stories about the entity Chaos, but only bedtime stories. Thalia had never encountered it until recently. Even if she was didn't trust it, she couldn't afford to lose this fight. She didn't even know if it would result in her getting her family back, but she knew she was fighting for Annabeth. And that was more than enough.

Thalia's tornado started to tilt, and floating her up on the top of the mouth of the rope of wind. Percy mirrored her movements- the waterspout carried him up into the air as well. Their trajectories foresaw them meeting in the middle. She no longer felt cold on the top of the mountain.

The moon smiled and the thunderstorm raged on as the two flew towards one another.


	20. Hurricanes

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Percy

Rain blew through the air on the top of Mount Olympus. The water on the surface of the mountain raged and screamed around them. The wind howled. The lightning flashed. The thunder echoed through the skies.

His vision held a green tinge to it. He felt himself seething.

His back hurt from Thalia's kick. His chest hurt from the several attacks she levied against him. He tasted blood from the gash Thalia gave him on Olympus. Pain resounded through his arms and knees from Aegis' unforgiving weight and edges. Even his chin hurt, from Thalia's lightning punches. Occasionally, one part of his body would shoot out or pulse from the lingering electricity from Thalia's multiple shocks.

Thalia was strong, but he was _stronger. _

He would not lose to her.

He would stop her.

He would not show weakness, the weakness that Lupa detested.

And she would know to never challenge him again.

Percy willed his water twister to push towards Thalia. He streaked through the air, towards his former ally. Thalia flew towards him as well, backed by her own wind twister. Her face was twisted into one of concentration and focus.

Percy raised Riptide up in the air and back past his head. Thalia mirrored his movement, but with her spear. The two of them executed their overhead attacks at the same time. Riptide met the body of her spear, and a clap of force erupted from the collision- strong enough to blow Percy's hair back.

They attacked each other again and again, with reverberations of force exploding from each contact. Even though Percy was confident that he was channeling the sea into each one of his attacks, he figured that Thalia must have been putting the power of skies in her attacks as well. She was easily able to hold her ground and match his force. With each strike, the tops of the mountains around them sliced off. Avalanches tumbled down the mountains, out the corner of his eye.

It seemed like Thalia was no longer worried about the Ophiotaurus, or even battle strategy or tactics- she was just worried about beating Percy. Percy could still feel the spear wound in his chest.

This was no longer an attempt to get around him. She was ready to kill him. She was going in for the kill with each strike.

He would live, though. He wouldn't let her kill him.

Percy and Thalia's weapons became blurs of golden, black, and silver, striking and parrying against one another. The rocks beneath them shook with the ferocity of each strike. Thalia gave feral screams with each movement, like she was getting angrier with each passing minute.

He was not unfamiliar with the concept of fighting someone or something looking to kill him. Thalia, however, had an animalistic bloodlust in her eyes. Other monsters didn't compare- they usually fought for their next meal, or to please their masters. Thalia, however, was fighting out of intrinsic, concentrated rage. Another difference was that Percy's encounters with monsters were usually limited in time. With one well-placed swing of Riptide, they usually disappeared in a shower of golden dust.

Thalia wouldn't disappear, though. She just kept coming, continuing to fight. He would have to beat her down.

Percy reached out to the water around him, and felt his gut pull a little. He willed the water to form a large fist. The water fist punched Thalia away from him. Her wind twister was still intact, though, as it broke her fall. Instead of falling, the ropes of wind simply caught her.

Percy raised his hand, and his large fist of water morphed into several shards of hard water. Percy pointed at Thalia, and the shards of water buffeted against her. Thalia, however, used Aegis to block the majority of them. The shards hit the magical shield, and exploded into harmless drops of water.

Percy noticed dark fog growing around them as the battle went on. Percy eventually realized that it wasn't just fog- it was clouds forming around them. The clouds were black with power and storm. The mini-hurricane surrounded around them. It began to even form rain, thunder, and lightning, adding to the storm surging above.

Thalia flew towards him, only to be hit by some tiny lightning from Percy's mini-hurricane.

Thalia's wind twister was dispelled as she fell hard onto the mountain. Aegis and her spear rattled away from her.

She looked at Percy quizzically. Her eyebrows almost looked singed off, but she seemed barely fazed. She just seemed more confused, like she had multiple questions.

Percy didn't have time to explain or make quips, though. Percy rushed towards her. He tried to knock her down with a two-handed strike. He used his water vortex to push him towards Thalia as quickly as he could. As he brought the sword down, Thalia grabbed his wrists. She tried to push his hands away from her, but Percy pushed back. The two of them pushed against each other like a two-handed arm-wrestle, with both demigods attempting to overpower the other.

Thalia then gritted her teeth and channeled electrical energy through him. He fully expected to be knocked prone, but realized that he actually felt okay. In fact, he felt more than fine. Instead of the usual vibrating heat that came with Thalia's shocks, he felt an internal cooling feeling flow through his body. The sea inside him and the water around him protected him from Thalia's lightning.

Thalia's eyes widened as Percy began to gain ground, pushing her down until Thalia went to a knee.

She yelled in frustration as she ducked out of the grapple and swept his feet out from him. It was a solid kick- if it was any lower, it would've hit the water twister and lost momentum. A sharp bludgeoning pain came from Thalia's kick, and he fell to the ground. His water twister fell back to the mountaintop ground.

Percy looked up to see Aegis hurtling at him like a Frisbee.

Percy, like the masked woman earlier that day, put his hand up to catch it. Despite it being nearly a blur, Percy was able to snatch it out of the air like picking an apple of an apple tree. Percy then charged Thalia, throwing the shield back as hard as he could.

Thalia oriented her arm so her arm fell into the straps of Aegis- one of the coolest catches Percy had seen in a while. However, as she was catching it, Percy was already winding up. If he could break her guard, he could get the upper hand in this.

Thalia was strong, though, and he needed to be stronger.

He reached out to the water around him, as well as the nearby sea. He needed to put everything into this. He felt a quiet, cool strength course through his arms. He saw images of waves sinking boats, and of predatory sea creatures consuming lesser ones. Percy could've sworn that Riptide was glowing as he swung it _hard _at Thalia. She put Aegis up at the very last second, for a two-handed block against Percy's two-handed swing.

Riptide met Aegis with thunderous force.

An implosion of force, light, and energy erupted from the collision.

Percy and Thalia went flying in opposite directions. He landed hard on the ground, and felt the rock scrape his elbows and neck as he tumbled.

All Percy could feel was pain for a second. He tried to stand up, but stumbled back to the ground.

He heard ringing his ears and smelled ozone in the air. He waited until the stars were gone from his vision, and then stood up slowly. Percy thumbed Riptide's hilt, and held Riptide up.

However, he felt that it was no longer well-balanced.

Percy looked at the sword slowly to see a broken Riptide.

The usually three-foot blade was now about a foot and a half long. There were only jagged edges where the rest of the sword should have extended. If Percy squinted, he could see the tips of the edges coursing with blue and green energy. The energy eventually fizzled out.

Percy's heart flipped in his chest. He had never thought Riptide would ever break in battle; part of him even thought it was incapable of doing so. Yet, here it was- broken like Percy swung a stick at a metal wall.

Seeing it break was like seeing an old friend fall in battle. In his periphery, he saw the remaining half of the blade on the mountaintop, by the Ophiotaurus' cage. He remembered meeting Magnus' talking sword, who admitted that Riptide was female. Such a statement implied that Riptide had a spirit, therefore having life. Needless to say, it only made the break more frustrating.

Percy looked up to see Thalia on the ground, examining Aegis. There was a deep crack in the shield, so deep that it looked like a fissure. It must've been an adjustment for her as well, because Thalia's eyes darted between Riptide's fragments and her shield.

Thalia then ground her teeth and roared with the water around them. Thalia reached towards the sky and a huge lightning bolt arced from the clouds and into her body. Thalia exhaled and shook as the bolt hit her, like she had just eaten something very spicy. The energy held in her body as opposed to redirecting anywhere. She then straightened up and looked at Percy. Her eyes glowed blue-white. Her body flamed with an energy field of pure lightning.

"You cracked my shield," she growled. She opened her hands, and some of the lightning fell to her hands. The lightning solidified into whips, and Thalia snapped them experimentally. The lightning whips struck into the mountain, creating burning gashes into the mountain.

Percy scowled. She snapped Riptide in half, and she was complaining a crack in shield?

Thalia ran towards him, with ropes of wind flying towards him as well. Percy felt the ropes of wind strike him, holding him in place. Thalia approached him, swinging the lightning whips so fast that they looked like rolling wheels. She then lashed one at Percy. The whip sliced against Percy's chest, slicing his breastplate in half. The breastplate fell off his body, as Thalia came for another strike from her left side. It struck against his neck, and a simultaneous burning and shocking pain exploded.

Percy went down from the force of the strike, but Thalia didn't let up. She continued to lash Percy's back, screaming as she did so.

While on his stomach and being lashed by lightning, Percy understood what Hazel was saying about lightning being like ropes of fire. He didn't realize the heat aspect that came with lightning, and how much it burned.

He couldn't just sit here and get killed, though.

Percy willed the hurricane winds around them to blow towards Thalia. It blew against her ropes of wind, but in the opposite direction, neutralizing them. It also succeeded in distracting Thalia as well. Percy jumped to his feet, and kicked Thalia away. The ends of his combat boot began to char and fry as they entered the electrical aura that was coming off Thalia.

Percy then summoned a large wave from the water beneath them. The wave snaked and wove until it was above Thalia, and then dropped onto her head. The wave drenched her and her energy aura. The force of the water knocked her to the ground.

"And you broke my sword," Percy breathed heavily. "So, I guess we're even."

Thalia's face was to the ground. She seemed like she was struggling to get up. Her body was shivering. Percy remembered Akhlys from his time in Tartarus. He thought about how he was able to subdue her. Annabeth's horrified face flashed through his head as well, but Percy pushed it out.

He needed to finish this now.

Percy raised his arm and felt his gut warm with anger. The dirty water on the ground went right up Thalia's orifices- her mouth, her nose, and her eyes. Thalia tried to cry out, only for a distressed gargle to come out. She reached out towards him as if to plead with him.

He was done with mercy, though.

He kept drowning her, weaving the water through her face. Veins popped out of her neck and her body convulsed. He imagined the water filling her throat and her lungs. In response, more of the water forced itself into her mouth, in a quantity that likely wasn't safe for consumption. Thalia clawed and scratched furiously at her throat, her neck, and her face. It was to no avail, though. The assault continued.

Percy opened his hand and pulled all the water in her body towards him. Thalia's body slowly began dragging towards him like Grover did whenever the two of them would play tug of war.

As Thalia was pulled closer to him, Percy held up Riptide's shard to end the fight.

_She was bad, _Percy heard in his heart. _She didn't deserve mercy. She didn't deserve to live. _

Behind Thalia, Percy saw Annabeth. She wore what she wore in death- a white shirt, black windbreaker, and light blue distressed jeans. She smiled towards Percy; a sad, wistful smile like looking at him helped her remember what it was like to live. A horrifying, brutal red slashing wound was on her neck, though, so deep that she shouldn't be standing.

Percy stared at her, unable to form any words towards her. A lump appeared in his throat.

"_Kill her, Percy," _Annabeth said, without breaking her smile. There was something off about her voice, like it was a very good imitation of it as opposed to her actual voice. "_We can't afford for her to be alive. She's too dangerous. Too sure of herself. You two never got along. Show her who's more powerful between the two of you, once and for all." _

Percy looked down at Thalia, who was screaming and thrashing as she was pulled towards Percy. Somehow, she was still clinging to consciousness, refusing to give into the attack. Percy stipulated that she was probably in great pain at the moment. Having water forced through your mouth, nose, and eyes probably wasn't a fun experience, just as drinking from the River Phlegethon was probably not the most refreshing option. He looked to his right to see himself gripping the shard of Riptide in an offensive position.

_When did I raise this sword? _Percy thought to himself.

Percy looked at Annabeth, whose smile wavered. She beckoned towards Thalia as if to say, _Any day now. Kill her! _

"She's your friend," Percy said.

"_She's no friend of mine," Annabeth said. _

Percy felt the water roaring in his ears. It was screaming at him, as if to say that this was some kind of ploy- perhaps a trick of the Mist by Thalia. Then again, demigods generally didn't use the Mist to encourage others to kill them. Annabeth would never have said something like that. Percy truly believed that she would have done what he did, try to save Thalia from herself before it was too late. And the fact that this mirage of Annabeth was saying this proved her artificial nature. With a start, he remembered Thalia talking to him about larger forces at play. He remembered her kneeling to an empty throne. He wondered if the vision of Annabeth had anything to do with that.

"You're not Annabeth," Percy said. "You're not even real."

Annabeth scowled. "I am very real. You shall see," she said.

Percy made a clawed salute over his chest. It was an old gesture that he first saw from Grover, years ago- a gesture to ward off evil. Percy pushed it towards the vision of Annabeth, and watched as she gave an unnatural, bestial scream. She then got ripped through reality, into a void full of red light. In a flash, she was gone, leaving the unholy chill of malevolence in the air.

Percy blinked and looked down to see Thalia at his feet. Somehow, he was pointing Riptide's shard at her forehead.

Percy pulled it back quickly. What was he doing? How was he doing this without feeling or noticing himself do it? Percy stopped drowning Thalia. She shivered on the ground, making inhuman noises with her mouth and nose. Her eyes were pulsating in pain.

Percy kneeled down, shaking her. "Thalia. _Thalia._"

Thalia was unresponsive. She continued making noises and shaking. Percy put his hand out, focusing on the water in her lungs. His gut pulled as he pulled the water out in a slick rope, like he did with the Hunters.

In a flash, Thalia opened her eyes. Her eyes were so red that they looked infected. She quickly grabbed Percy's neck, made a different kind of motion with her fingers, and funneled electricity through her thumb, her index, and her ring fingers. She then slammed her fingers into Percy's core. Electrical pain forced through his body and instantly rushed to his joints. Percy's form shook against his will, and felt the makeshift taser interrupt the flow of his mind. His body froze up, and his muscles became unresponsive. Percy slumped down, with his limp body falling on top of Thalia.

The pain stopped, but Percy couldn't fight the panic. For more than a few seconds, he couldn't move. He felt like his mind was disconnected from his body.

Thalia threw Percy off of her with a scream. She then dry heaved a few times, making strangled choking noises while she did so. Thalia then raised one arm towards the sky and one arm towards Percy. Lightning curved through the sky and hit Percy's unresponsive form.

A huge percussive force thundered through Percy, like he was inside a bass speaker. Intense burning heat flowed through Percy's body. His insides felt like they were all getting individually defibrillated. As Thalia hit him over and over again with separate lightning bolts, the heat got hotter and the defribillating force became more intense.

His teeth began chattering.

Not even the rain was able to heal his injuries up quickly enough.

He felt a hole being burned in his chest, around the same spot where Thalia had stabbed him with her spear.

He began to smell charcoal, which he figured was his clothes burning.

He felt himself passing on.

Percy wanted to tell the Ophiotaurus to swim away, to swim for its life. To go do anything other than be stuck up in Olympus, doing nothing but being caged. Maybe he could meet another Ophiotaurus and start a family. He figured Bessie was miserable here, scared for his life. Percy didn't blame him.

He wanted to tell Thalia sorry, for failing to save her. They used to be friends, and now she was trying her best to kill him.

Granted, in her defense, he did essentially try to drown her. Thalia was right- he didn't come here to just save her. He came here to stop her, if necessary. If he truly came in peace, he supposed that he wouldn't have come in armor and with Riptide in hand.

Then again, if he was unarmed, the Triumvirate fighters may have taken him down quickly.

The crescent moon began to become faint in the sky.

He wanted to tell Annabeth, the _real _Annabeth, that he missed her. He wanted to warn her that he'd be joining her soon, and to not reincarnate before he gets there. He wanted to see her one more time. He wanted to tell her sorry for failing to save Thalia.

As he thought about Annabeth, Percy felt his motor skills return. He felt the last stripes of his strength renew. Percy used the remaining energy he had to roll out of the lightning blast and pop up to his knee.

He wouldn't die. He wouldn't die quite yet.

Anger, loss, regret, coalesced once more into a whirlpool that pulled Percy in. He was done with this- done with the fight, done with fighting his friends, and done with all of this.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled, thrusting the Riptide shard into the mountain. A rumble sounded throughout the ground, and he felt Mount Olympus shake. Percy felt a huge tremor cascade from himself, down the mountain, and into the ground.

Mount Olympus itself then split in a deafening _krakoom._

A zig-zag fractured the ground between Thalia and Percy, at that point where the Riptide shard was. The ground began to shake, and pull apart as the mountain began to fall apart. Percy pulled the blade shard back before it fell through the cracks.

Thalia's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. As the mountain sides were falling away from one another, Thalia backed up.

"Thalia, no!" Percy yelled.

Thalia didn't listen. She got a running start and jumped with all her might. She almost didn't make it, but Percy saw an air draft suspend Thalia in the air- just long enough for Thalia's hand to shoot out and grab onto the ledge.

The sides of the mountain began to fall away. Percy turned and willed the Ophiotaurus cage to rush towards him. It flew to his hand, and he turned back to Thalia. She struggled to hold on, as the mountain shook violently. The storms raged on, blowing sheets of rain and wind against Thalia.

Thalia's eyes, however, didn't ask him to save her. They weren't scared. Rather, they looked steely calm, like she had already made peace with the possibility that she would die doing this.

For the quickest of seconds, he heard Annabeth's voice telling her to let her fall.

For a split second, he considered it.

She wouldn't stop if he saved her.

But then, he pushed it out of his mind. He wasn't going to let her go out like this. He wouldn't let her become another constellation, frozen in the stars. He needed to keep going, to push through the bad thoughts.

Not so he could hurt Thalia.

Not to kill her.

Not necessarily to stop her.

But to save her. To _truly _save her, and to let her make her own choice.

Years ago, Thalia made a choice to take herself out of the chess game that was the Great Prophecy.

Percy made the choice to give Luke the knife.

Luke made the choice to sacrifice himself and eventually died a hero.

Now, Percy needed to give Thalia the opportunity to make her own choice. He knew she wouldn't give up otherwise, especially not if Percy tried to impose his will upon her by overpowering her.

Percy rushed over to her, shifting the Ophiotaurus cage to his left hand as he reached his right hand out to her. As he made contact, though, sparks flew from her hand. Percy's hand recoiled from the static shock.

He frowned at Thalia, then put his hand back out. "Grab my hand!"

Thalia scowled at him, then winced as the rocks dug into her hands. Blood streaked out her palm and fell onto her face. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to save you," Percy yelled over the storm and earthquake.

"That's the dumbest thing I've heard in a while," Thalia spat. "If you were really a fighter, you'd let me die."

"I'm not going to let you die," Percy projected. "Grab my hand!"

The tectonic plates shifted, and the mountain shook and shifted. Thalia's part of the ledge fell a little bit, so Thalia was a little further away. The boisterous noises of avalanches filled the air.

"LEAVE ME!" Thalia screamed.

"NO! Stop being dumb and grab my hand!"

"Percy!" Thalia spat. "If I take your hand and you pull me up, here's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to twist your arm and break your nose. Maybe break your legs too. Then, I'm going to walk over to that cage, break the ice on the cage, funnel enough electricity to cook that sea-cow, and then sacrifice it."

Percy's mouth went dry, even in the storm. Thalia was still ready to take him out, with extreme prejudice. He swallowed the fear, though. He refused to leave her. If even that meant her hurting him. Mount Olympus could come crumbling down, and Percy would be focused on two lives- the Ophiotaurus' and Thalia's own.

"I don't care," Percy said. "I'm going to save you!"

"I tried to kill you," Thalia countered. "Several times. And your dumbass kept getting back up. Have some respect for yourself and save yourself. Save the Ophiotaurus from me."

Percy felt himself get desperate. It seemed like Thalia was steadily slipping away, both literally and metaphorically. The rain fell on her face, washing away some of the blood. Dust and rubble covered her face from the shaking mountain. Even with all of that, her eyes remained bright, electric, and vibrant.

"I won't leave you, Thals," Percy said, feeling a few tears run down his face.

"You will die," Thalia said simply. "Whether by this mountain, life itself, or by my own hand."

"I won't leave you," he repeated, reaching as far as he possibly could. She was _just _out of reach.

"You're an idiot," Thalia cried.

"Use the air or something. Fly up here. Do you even want to live?" Percy said. He felt his voice pleading with her.

A mountain next to them crumbled down in segments, like a hill of rice.

Thalia stayed silent. She tried to pull herself up with her arms, but she couldn't. Percy saw her pulse in her neck throbbing quickly.

She was nervous.

Even though her eyes reflected calm, her pulse betrayed her. She was panicking. That's why she couldn't save herself. Deep down, she _was _probably scared of something. Whether that was losing, death, or of being so high enough, he wanted to save her. He wanted to _protect _her from whatever it was.

"Thalia. You can do whatever you want to do to me. Just let me save you. You want to bring Annabeth back, don't you?" Percy asked. He forced himself to not break eye contact from Thalia. He looked at her, rather than the mountain crumbling around them.

Thalia glared at him like she was trying to shoot a beam of energy through her eyes.

She then let go of the ledge.

She fell for a second, along with Percy's heart.

However, she then reached out with all her might and grabbed Percy's hand. Her weight almost brought Percy over the edge, but he used the water on the mountain to steady himself. He pulled Thalia up with one hand, a feat of strength which seemed to surprise even Thalia.

He pulled her back to the top of the mountain. Thalia then exhaled and looked right at him. She then twisted his arm until Percy heard a sickening _crack. _Pain shot from his elbow to the rest of the arm. He began to panic. He couldn't straighten out his arm.

Thalia then switched arms and punched Percy square in the face. Getting hit point blank by her punch was like getting hit by a baseball bat. She didn't even charge it with electricity- it was just a bar punch. Percy's nose was crushed by her fist, with a nasty _squelch. _

Thalia then jumped up and kicked Percy twice. He fell to the ground, and could only give a whimper as the Ophiotaurus cage fell from his hand.

"You risked your entire fight to save me," Thalia muttered. "I can't believe it. You're truly an idiot."

Percy couldn't move his right arm. Ringing sounded in his ears. He couldn't even feel any water on the mountain anymore. The rain was no more. Now, the sky was overcast as the mountain crumbled.

"Thalia, please don't do this," Percy whispered, as Thalia stepped past him. "Please. Annabeth wouldn't want this. Let her rest in peace."

"Shut up," Thalia said bluntly. She grabbed the Ophiotaurus cage, kicking it away from Percy."

"Please, Thalia. If you don't do it for you or for Annabeth, do it for me. For old times' sake."

"I said," Thalia said. "Stop talking." Thalia struck him with a blast of static electricity for good measure. "That's for drowning me, asshole."

"Don't do it," Percy cried weakly. The pain in his nose had turned aching. "Annabeth always made the wise choice. Make the wise choice."

Thalia then raised her spear and stabbed it into the cage as Percy's consciousness slipped away from him.


	21. Shadows

**Please note: I do not own Percy Jackson or related characters. This story is just an opportunity for me to play around with these characters and my creativity. I love getting feedback and you all deserve the best stories, so feel free to review so I can be the best storyteller I can be! Thank you!**

Thalia

It took all her remaining will to not look back. To not apologize to Percy. To not thank him for what he did.

Her face was wet- with rain, blood, and mud. Her eyes burned mercilessly- squeezing out tears like it was trying to cry out the multiple infections that come from exposure to mountain water. She felt the urge to gag once more, but she no longer felt any water in her lungs to throw up. Her gags were dry heaves, uncomfortable reminders of the fact that one of her best friends had just drowned her in one of the most creative ways she had ever seen.

Her slash and stab wounds hurt, to say the least. Yet, perhaps the most painful part of this was not the anger she was feeling.

It wasn't the sadness she felt, for what she did.

It wasn't the worry she felt, towards Percy, the Hunters, and the Amazons.

It was the resignation she felt, like she was tired of _feeling. _She now understood the vision she saw of herself a little bit more; the vision of a Thalia whose eyes seemed deadened and emotionless despite her flaming omnipotence. Emotionally, she was halfway there. She felt drained and tired.

_Annabeth was killed due to a deal her mother made, _Thalia had said a while ago. _A deal she made in sound body and mind. _

Now, here she was- ready to kill the Ophiotaurus for her own self-interest. A decision that she was going to make, in sound body and mind.

Or was it?

How tired was she? How delirious was she? How hungry was she? How sad, unhinged, and detached was she to be willing to take an innocent life?

She had felt confident about what she was doing when she was farther away, but now that she was here? Wasn't Annabeth an innocent life that was bet, with the motive of accomplishing some goal?

How was she better than Athena?

What if the Ophiotaurus had a family? Did it?

Thalia raised her spear. It didn't matter now. She was here now. She had done bad things, but did it all for Annabeth. She had told Percy that Annabeth would have been on her side if she was here, but now her confidence was wavering. Would Annabeth's perception of her change once she found out what Thalia did? Would the face of judgment and disgust be worth it?

It would. It would give Thalia the power to bring Annabeth back. She knew she would probably rot in the Fields of Punishment for such a decision, but she needed to be strong. Like her mother- or Chaos- whatever it was said: there wasn't any space for weakness.

Thalia felt her body stabbing the spear downward, like she had done several times before. With Luke. With the demigods. With the Hunters. By herself. Her form was so practiced that she didn't even need to think about it.

As the spear whistled downward, Thalia felt herself pulling out of this reality.

* * *

She suddenly found herself in a…she wasn't quite sure to explain it. It was like a void, an abyss that simultaneously contained everything in the universe and nothing at all. There was no life but, also, no death. There just was. The mass around her was probably best described as a liquid-type substance. However, it wasn't water, and she wasn't drowning. She was just spreading apart to join the substance around her.

Flashes of Zeus and her mother struck through her mind like lightning. She saw visions of Jason laughing. She heard her mother screaming, and then somehow smelled the intoxicating scent of cinnamon rolls. She saw a young Luke, as well as an even younger Annabeth. She saw and felt herself growing into a tree, and then sleeping alone in Cabin One. She watched herself fighting, and then watched herself pledge for the Hunters. She watched herself leave the Hunters, and saw herself meeting the Amazons. Then, the memories began to speed up so quickly that she could only see flashes of blood, scrapes of weapons, feral screams of pain, and the luminescent energy of lightning.

She then felt it all slipping away. Not only her memories, but her sense of self as well. She began to lose the memories as she lost who she was in this shapeless void.

There was no kind of order or flow to this place. There was no kind of organized thought here.

This was purely and utterly chaotic, and it was tearing Thalia apart.

Curiously, she felt her body continuing the stab motion as she melted away. Perhaps the two were happening concurrently. Or, maybe, this was happening a hundred years in the future. Thalia wasn't sure. The concept of time was starting to become wonky as well.

She felt like she had been here for hours, or maybe seconds.

She remembered hearing the stories about Chaos. The place to which faded and forgotten gods were pulled and basically forced to take the longest nap ever. Here, in Chaos, they slept for eternity.

She began to feel like how she felt when she was a tree on Half-Blood Hill- disembodied. Her mind began to fall, once more, into her memories.

_Oh, Thalia. You came back. _

Yes, Mother.

_Nothing is permanent, my little Thalia. Not even death. _

Thalia tried to scream, but she no longer had a body.

_Everything you touch dies, my dear. _

Her mother was right. Her body was literally in the motion of killing another thing, an innocent animal. This wasn't part of some kind of natural cycle of life and death- this was the brutal sacrifice of a living, intelligent thing.

_And you're alone, aren't you? _

Thalia felt her memory dust away as well. She no longer knew to whom the voice belonged. It was a woman's voice, but she couldn't quite place it.

What she did know was that she was alone. There was no one, no thing, here to save her or keep her company.

She would die here, or transform into this place.

She heard a little kid's voice, yelling her name from the void.

She heard a girl's voice, and then an older guy's voice.

She didn't recognize any of them.

Thalia then heard a guy's voice, one that was soft like the Pacific waves. She got a flash of the colors black and green as she heard it.

_We all have ghosts, Thals. A lot of us have lost a lot, you more than most. Life gave you a bad hand, a pretty horrible one, actually. But that doesn't mean that you should give up like this. If you do, then life wins. _

She didn't have a choice.

_There's always a choice, Thalia. _

Not here. She lost. She felt herself dissolving, almost completely.

_What about your friends? _

This was Thalia's fate- her destiny.

_I won't leave you, Thals. _

Please leave me, she thought. She smelled the sea breeze for the last time.

_I'm going to save you. _

Saving.

Leaving.

…

Bleeding.

Melting.

….

Memory.

…

_…_

_…_

_…_

_…_

_…_

_…_

_…_

_…_

_…_

The last image she saw was of a kid, with calm green eyes and a concerned look on his face.

_I'm Percy. You're safe now. _

…

…

…

Percy. That name elicited a spark in her, like that name was something she should know.

…

…

…

Strangest dream…

_It's okay. _

…dying…

_No. You're okay. What's your name? _

She didn't know. She didn't quite know where she was, or who she was, or _what _she was. She just knew she _was, _and that she was alive, but not really. She felt herself pooling together, though, the more she thought about the green-eyed kid.

She fixated on that memory, holding onto it like a life raft.

She needed to know who she was. She needed to know.

_You're okay. What's your name? _The kid's voice came through again.

She was okay. She had to believe the green-eyed kid. She had to. Whoever she was, she was okay. She willed herself to pool together, to solidify into something usable.

She fought to bring herself together, with all her might and strength. It took her years, or maybe minutes to do so, but she finally grew into something. Some sort of mass, or collection of consciousness that was a part of herself.

The boy's voice came through a final time. _What's your name? _

Her name was Thalia. Daughter of Zeus.

Thalia felt a rush of power. She was instantly ripped out of the void and back into her body.

* * *

She felt the cold of the mountain. She heard the mountain falling. She saw the spear falling towards the cage, right above the frozen over part. The Ophiotaurus was cowering under that point in the cage.

At the last second, she oriented her body so she stabbed the spear a few centimeters to the right, simply cracking the cage itself rather than breaking the ice.

Thalia exhaled and slumped onto the ground, muttering apology after apology to the Ophiotaurus.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…" she kept whispering.

She threw away her spear and touched the cage. The Ophiotaurus hummed so strongly that she could feel the vibration. It was like the purr of a cat, or the rumble of a car. The hum initially seemed injected with stress, but eventually lightened up to a happy one.

"I'm sorry, Bessie," Thalia said, breathing.

She was Thalia. Her name was Thalia.

She was here, on Mount Olympus. With Percy.

Percy. The guy who saved her from whatever that was.

She felt cracks and shaking under her palms.

_Right, _she thought. Mount Olympus was crumbling.

Thalia then tried to stand, but she no longer had any energy. It was like her soul had not quite settled into her body. Thalia grabbed her spear and tossed it in Percy's direction, gathering Aegis up as well. She then opted to crawl, digging her nails into the rock and using the leverage to pull herself to Percy's limp body.

One hand after another, she crawled.

She dragged herself until she got to Percy. She then sat up straight, folding her legs into a flat surface. She then slowly lifted Percy's head and put it on her lap. His nose looked horrible- crushed, purple, and out of sync. The cut on his lip had turned charcoal and crusty, which didn't bode well infection-wise. His arm hung helplessly off to the side, broken and still.

Thalia ran her hair through Percy's black hair. It was dry and dirty, but somehow still thick and strong.

Percy stirred in her grip. His eyes opened to about half-mast. "You're…you're not all flame-y."

Thalia couldn't stop the tears from coming down. It was cold, Mount Olympus was about to fall, and the sky had turned as purple as Percy's nose.

Yet, she felt warm and safe here, holding Percy in her arms.

Her tears fell down her face, off her chin, and onto Percy's face. He closed his eyes instinctively, like Thalia's tears were another method of attack.

Thalia, however, held him steadily. "I didn't do it," she sobbed. She felt like a child, crying her eyes out with no regard for weakness or strength. "Annabeth's dead, isn't she? My little sister is dead."

Percy closed his eyes once more and nodded. Tears started coming out of his eyes, and he didn't even wipe them away.

"You're right," Thalia sniffed. "Annabeth wouldn't have wanted that. She would've wanted both of us to be smart with how we take care of ourselves."

"And…each other," Percy whispered. It looked like every word hurt to say.

Thalia shook her head. "You're such an idiot. And you're better than me. But thank you. Thank you for saving me."

Percy shook his head weakly. "I didn't save you. You saved yourself. I just reminded you who you were," he said, letting loose three deep coughs.

Thalia wished she had enough time to tell him how right he was. However, the part of Mount Olympus behind her crumbled to the ground.

Thalia gave a teary chuckle. "So what do we do now?"

Percy tried to shrug, but winced after his attempt.

"We could run away. Use Annabeth's hat…" Percy started to fall unconscious, but held on a little longer. "We could go with Leo and the crew. On…Festus. Travel, save people, do cool things. You could have a family."

_Family. _Even that word almost made Thalia break down again. How could she have been so blind? All of this was in search of a family that was right in front of her.

Thalia was about to say something, but decided against it. Tears flowed down her face as she nodded vehemently. "Did you mean it? About being willing to be follow me? And being on the run."

Percy was almost gone at this point. He looked like a dog trying to stay awake. "Yeah, Thals," he said. "I meant it…"

Percy began to nod off. Thalia sobbed once more. They had just been talking about the future, both of them knowing full well that they were about to die, right here on this mountain. He had stayed there. He didn't leave. He didn't use the water to make a bridge or to fly away.

Instead, he stayed.

He stayed and got his ass kicked.

He stayed, knowing that he very well may have died.

But he was still here. And so was she.

The mountain beneath them crumbled, and the two of them fell like rocks in the avalanche. Thalia closed her eyes, holding Percy close to her like a body-size pillow.

She thanked the Fates for putting Percy in her path, as well as for putting Annabeth, Luke, and Jason in her life.

Even while falling, with her eyes closed and her stomach dropping, Thalia noticed a huge change in lighting. It was like the skies had opened up, and a bright light appeared from it.

Thalia felt their descent slowing. The two of them then got whisked up towards the sky.

* * *

Reality, once again, stretched and flattened around them. They dissolved, and re-formed, which was something that was getting very old for Thalia. They passed by a barrier of pure energy, by becoming pure energy themselves. They then became like stars, until they fell out of the constellations in the Olympian throne room.

Thalia felt hands on her as they landed on the ground. She looked to her side to see a middle-aged man crouched to the ground. He had features that reminded her of an elf. He cut a lean figure, like he ran about seventy miles a day. His salt-and-pepper hair was folded under his winged pith helmet, with matched his golden armor. He held his caduceus in his left hand.

The god of messengers nodded at her. "Thalia."

"Hermes," Thalia said, without thinking. She could barely think straight, much less identify gods on the spot.

His expression softened as he regarded Thalia. "Why don't you stand over there, my child?"

Thalia followed his pointing, to see him gesturing towards a spot in between the hearth pit and the door. It was the place she had stood when she, Percy, and Annabeth had regarded the gods years ago. Back then, the gods seemed happy and proud.

Now, they seemed the opposite.

The gods regarded her angrily. Athena stood by her destroyed throne, while a few satyrs were cleaning up the mess. Athena looked at Thalia with an unreadable expression- it could've been anywhere from rage to smugness to guilt. Her silver and golden armor looked scuffed.

Hephaestus whispered to Apollo, who shook his head.

Hera glowered at Thalia directly. If looks could kill, Thalia would have been dead ten times over.

Poseidon's eyes softened when he saw Percy's body, then hardened when he regarded Thalia.

Hades was muttering something to Zeus, passionately. He wore the same shifting black robe that he wore in Thalia's vision.

Aphrodite looked like she had a headache.

Artemis watched Thalia soundlessly. Her garb matched Thalia's nearly exactly- a _chlamys _over black hunting gear.

Her father sat in the middle. His platinum throne almost hummed as his power reverberated throughout it and back to him. His stormy eyes fell on Thalia. They didn't soften, nor did they react in any kind of way. He just looked like he had expected something like this, and now the time had come.

"Thalia," Zeus said softly. "Take a walk with me."

It wasn't a request- it was a command. Zeus stood up and began to walk behind his throne, to a place in the back.

Thalia looked at Percy in her arms. "I can't leave him."

Zeus, from behind the thrones, looked at Apollo, who nodded.

"I'll get right to it, Father," Apollo said, running down to Percy's unconscious form.

"Go with him," Apollo whispered as he got close to Thalia. "You want to hear what he has to say. And be _nice._ Now's not the time to play hero."

Apollo then took Percy from Thalia and placed a hand on his chest. He started singing under his breath and his fingertips glowed golden. Thalia heard snaps, cracks, and pops as Apollo sung.

"THALIA!" Zeus' voice boomed throughout the throne room. None of the gods flinched, but they all looked at him, and back at her.

"Go with your father, bastard," Hera spat. She looked like she had just smelled something horrible, with her lip curled up in derision and disgust.

Thalia balled her fists, but Apollo put his hand on her shoulder. His healing touch sent positive energy through her body. "Now's not the time-" he repeated, in a harsh hiss. "-to play hero. Go."

He then lightly pushed her towards Zeus. Thalia walked towards her father. Her footsteps echoed throughout the chamber. The gods watched her silently, but the sheer judgment in the room was palpable. The hearth pit burned brilliantly, providing the only source of heat in the cold room. Thalia walked past the hearth pit, and in between Zeus and Poseidon's throne.

She saw a normal-sized Zeus there, looking professional in his dark pinstriped suit. He wore a golden ring on his middle finger, which crackled with streaks of lightning. If Thalia squinted, she could see the fabric in his suit moving slowly, like clouds did on a beautiful day. He beckoned for her to follow him.

The two of them walked down a giant hallway in the back of the room. The hallway was a solid beige, but was so tall that Thalia felt like an ant in the path.

Zeus then followed the path to a beam of energy that shot upwards, further than Thalia's eyes could see. The energy was shimmering white-blue, and _whooshed _with force. Zeus took Thalia's hand and stepped into it. The two of them then shot upwards, until they got to an observatory-style room. However, there were no windows on the walls. Instead, there was a thick fog in the room. The fog, however, looked like it was made out of the cosmos itself.

Thalia could see stars, supernovas, and shooting stars in the space in the fog around them.

Zeus gestured around the room. "This, Thalia, is my nest. It is where I come, when I need to face troubling or-"

Thalia felt his eyes fall on her once more. "-_harrowing _decisions," he finished.

He noticed Thalia looking around the room. "And, yes, as you've probably put together- this is actual space. This is my dominion. I can transport to any place in the universe using this starmist."

Thalia had to admit- it _was _cool. About a thousand times cooler than when she, Luke, and Annabeth had broken into a NASA satellite site and played the 3-D presentations that were reserved for tours. But no amount of showing off or gloating would change the fact that he had failed her and Jason as a father.

Yet, she couldn't say anything. It was like she was at the top of a rollercoaster- she was frozen.

"I know that I haven't been the _best _father," Zeus said awkwardly, running his fingers through his beard.

Thalia stared.

"Or a _good _father," Zeus conceded.

Thalia stared longer.

"Or…" Zeus cleared his throat. "…any kind of a father figure to you. You and your brother had a tough go of it. But the two of you prevailed! You all grew to be strong, capable leaders."

Jason was dead.

"And I know your brother is no longer with us," Zeus said, bringing his voice down an octave. "But his memory lives on, in the stars and in our hearts."

Thalia stared some more. She couldn't count the number of times she had cursed Zeus, and practiced the things she would say to him. Now that she was here, though, she didn't know what to say.

"But I wanted to take this chance to, _erm, _admit my faults. I should have been there for both you and your brother when the two of you were young. I opted to watch from a distance, rather than be engaged in your lives. And, I believe, our relationship suffered as a result."

_What relationship? _She and Zeus were almost like distanced co-workers, where she would call onto him if she needed some kind of power or blessing and he would call on her indirectly if he needed something done.

"And I believe that our relationship is part of what led us here. To this moment, where you are here after liaising with Chaos, attempting to kill the gods, injuring the Hunters, trying to bring Athena's daughter back from the dead, and striking _my _daughter in battle."

The way Zeus said _my daughter _struck a weird chord in Thalia. It was like he had omitted a word: real. It was like he meant to say, _my real daughter. _That's how he treated Athena- because she was an immortal, she stood by her father's side, providing counsel, wisdom, and strategy. Because Thalia and Jason were born to a washed-up socialite, they were discarded like trash.

"I have never…" Zeus hesitated. "…quite gotten it _right. _The whole quest of…fatherhood. You pay too much attention to them, and they run away from you. You hug them too tight, they die. You keep your distance from them, and they grow up to be heroes that resent you. You never hug them, and they grow up believing that they lacked support. I knew that everything that I touch seems to break under my force."

He moved closer to Thalia. His eyes were sad, like a gloomy rainy day. "And I did not want you, your brother, or your mother to break as a result of me."

As far as apologies went, that sucked. Thalia was screaming several retorts in her head, but it was like her body had forgotten how to be a smart-mouth. Even though many fathers saw the challenge that came with fatherhood, a lot of them decided to at least _try _to be there.

And those were the fathers that needed celebration. Zeus, on the other hand, had been weirdly absent and present at the same time. Sometimes, he helped her when she was in a pinch. However, he was never there to help her get through something.

Even when Jason died, she really needed someone. No one was there for her, though, besides Percy and Annabeth who prioritized getting burgers with her at McHale's over schoolwork, apartment shopping, and other life things they may have had going on.

Zeus searched her eyes like he was trying to pull out a response. Eventually, though, he just sighed. "Yet, it seems like you did end up breaking. Even worse, you became susceptible to Chaos' machinations. Chaos' power is unparalleled, but my ancestor does not manifest like the others. Chaos has no form, but it appears in the essences of its creations. That is where its power is. Most people are so ordained to a world of order and structure that Chaos' whispers have no effect. Yet, you, in the midst of everything happening, heard Chaos' call."

Zeus sank to one knee and took Thalia in his two hands. "You are powerful, Thalia. That is why Chaos went for you. I need you to tell me what Chaos was planning."

Thalia didn't say anything. Instead, she just thought about her mother, rambling on about their father and how he was going to make her immortal. Thalia thought about how she felt when Jason had disappeared, and how Zeus didn't help at all.

She found that she did not _forgive _him for any of that. She didn't owe him anything- not a response, not an apology, not forgiveness.

"Thalia," Zeus shook her. His strong hands almost crushed Thalia's spine. "What did Chaos want from you?"

Thalia thought about that. Chaos wanted her to succeed, to bring down the gods and drag the divine Greek world into a hub of chaos and power struggles. Chaos also wanted Percy as well, perhaps to have him and Thalia work in tandem as agents of Chaos. She wasn't sure if Chaos had reached out to Percy, but she knew that Percy seemed like his regular stubborn self. So if it had tried for Percy, it didn't work.

It didn't seem like Chaos had anything against the gods themselves, but it was more like it wanted to change the world through disciples.

Zeus didn't blink as his stare bore into Thalia's own. The space between their eyes began to charge with power that was almost tangible.

Zeus' eyes then widened. He stood up. "This silent act will not work downstairs in front of my family, Thalia. The gods down there want to kill you for what you have done and what you have attempted to do. Once Chaos latches on to someone, it rarely lets go. I have advocated for them to spare you, but you must find a way to stand up for yourself in a way that is respectful and clear."

Zeus began to walk out of the room, growing in size steadily. Before he left the room completely, he turned to Thalia. "Even if you survive this, you would be banished for your crimes. You decide which one you want- banishment, or death."

Zeus then left the room in a swoop, now at full size. Thalia couldn't shake the feeling that she was a kid, and her father had just told her to come downstairs for dinner after lecturing her for talking back to her mother.

Thalia sighed and looked at the cosmos in the fog. The stars gleamed like diamonds.

_Banishment, or death. _

She didn't feel like this journey really could have ended any other way. She had prepared herself for the possibility. If she chose banishment, she didn't know what that would entail. Would she be by herself? Would she banished to Antarctica or something? Would it be to another plane of existence? To Tartarus? What did that mean?

If she chose death, Hades may end up fast-tracking her towards the Fields of Punishment so she can suffer for all eternity.

Then, it hit her.

Zeus had told her that this…_starmist…_would take him anywhere he wanted to go. Then, he had left the room. While she was still in it.

He had given her an out. She could use this to escape, and start the rest of her life.

She could live out her days, albeit looking over her shoulder.

But, she was done running. She was done trying to circumvent consequences.

Annabeth was dead.

Thalia had done several things she knew would paint her as a threat. Now, it was time to step up and take the consequences for them.

Plus, she couldn't leave Percy. Even if he was surrounded by a bunch of all-powerful gods, he stuck with her when he had the option to leave. She could never repay him for such a thing, but the least she could do was take her medicine like a big girl.

Thalia left the room and walked down the huge beige hallway. As she did, she felt her spirit growing in size, like her father's physical form did.

She knew what she wanted to do.

Thalia arrived back to the throne room, walking in between Zeus' and Poseidon's thrones once more. She walked past the hearth pit, but saw someone in the flames this time. The figure nodded to her.

Thalia made her way back to Percy, who was now sitting up. He looked dazed, but his arms and nose were in the right places. He smiled weakly at her, then frowned as he began to sway.

Zeus' mouth was agape, like he was surprised she stayed. He then closed his mouth and cleared his throat. "Right then. Council. It is time for deliberation."

"Finally," Ares grunted. He wore a biker jacket, a red shirt, and brass knuckles. His ripped black pants bulged with muscles. "I say we kill her. So she doesn't come for us again. Plus, she pissed on my throne!"

"Pissed on your throne?" Hera scoffed. "Look at Athena's throne. Nothing but pieces. This girl has no self-control, no honor, and no heroism in her spirit. She's not even worth us wasting our time on."

Hera sat back in her throne, satisfied. Her sky blue robes ruffled with her movement.

"Now," Hermes said. He looked at Thalia. He seemed sad, and Thalia wondered if he was thinking about Luke. "Let's not get out of line here. Thalia has done countless good deeds for us, including leading your own Hunters, Artemis."

Artemis didn't break eye contact with Thalia. Her expression was a mixture of anger and sadness.

"Okay…" Hermes continued, frowning at the goddess of the Hunt. He pointed at Poseidon. "How many times as Thalia saved your boy?"

Poseidon frowned. He wore armor studded with pearls and coral. "And look at him now. Apollo had to heal up both internal and external injuries from his…encounters with Thalia."

Thalia looked to the ground. She felt dumb and ashamed. She _had _attacked Percy, one of the only people on the world that was willing to stand by her through thick and thin. There was no way she could justify that.

Hades stood. "Let us not forget that she, in her madness, attacked a child of mine." He locked his dark eyes on Thalia. "Do not get anything I say twisted. You will have no forgiveness from me."

"Plus," Hera added. "Her actions and identity as the current head of the Triumvirate Holdings prove to be too great to let remain."

Dionysus stroked his chin. His leopard-print _chiton _was too loud for Thalia's tastes. "Now, now, couldn't that be helpful? To have someone that owes us something be the head of the Triumvirate Holdings?"

"I mean, let's not start talking as if we can control her," Aphrodite said. Her purple robe was decidedly form-fitting. "Thalia is, and will always be, her own person."

"And she chose to spare the Ophiotaurus," Hephaestus said, in a gruff voice. He seemed like he was torn from the forges, wearing a great armor with glowing orange streaks. His eyes flamed like the hearth pit. "Let's not forget that when it came down to it, she chose to spare it."

"Because she was too weak to go through with it," Ares said. He pointed at Thalia. "And where's my new weapon?! Did you take it?"

Thalia put up her hands and shook her head.

The figure in the flames stepped out to reveal Tiana, the bartender from the bar. She now wore a humble brown and black dress, but her eyes coursed with scarlet power. "Let us pause and take multiple breaths. Are there any of you that have not done something like this? Did some of you not try and overthrow Zeus?"

Poseidon and Hera looked away.

"Did some of you not commit worse crimes than this? Killing people?"

Ares shuffled uncomfortably.

"Curse people forever?"

Athena looked to the ground.

"Sexually assaulting humans?"

A multitude of the council put their heads down in shame.

"We are all owed judgment," Hestia/Tiana said. "This one-" she said, gesturing towards Thalia. "-has a good heart. I am sure of that, and will vouch for her. Death is not something that should be considered."

"Even with her connection to Chaos?" Hera huffed. "We all know that that a line has been opened between that girl and the abyss. She could grow to be a threat we could not contain. Look what Chaos did just recently. Locked us out of Olympus while _this _one-"

Hera pointed to Thalia like she was trying to turn her into a cow. "-did her dirty work."

"Hey…"

All eyes turned to Percy, next to Thalia. He seemed dazed, but was frowning. "Stop being so mean…to Thalia…"

Hera snapped her fingers and Percy's mouth disappeared from his face.

Poseidon glared at Hera, but Zeus looked at Poseidon.

"_A-hem," _Zeus started. "That is a good, _er, _segue for us to hear Thalia's perspective. Thalia, have you anything to say?"

Thalia looked at the Ophiotaurus, swimming happily in the center of the room. As she looked at, she felt a shift in the room- the Olympians grabbing their weapons and preparing to stop her.

Thalia's eyes fell to Hestia, who nodded at her. Her eyes brought Thalia back to the cinnamon rolls, back to the household where she had to use her voice to advocate for herself and Jason.

Where she had to use her voice to be seen.

Hestia nodded, and Thalia took a breath.

"There once…was a girl," Thalia said, looking right at Hestia. "She quickly realized she wasn't normal. The monsters under the bed that the other kids joked about were real for her. They came from the shadows, preying on her and her family. She had a tough time, but no one helped. When she cried, no one held her. When she screamed, no one helped her. She learned quickly that she was on her own…until her brother was born."

Zeus seemed to lean forward. Hera looked to the stars in the domed sky.

"The girl loved her brother," Thalia continued. "With all her heart, even when her brother would annoy her. But then she lost her brother. She cried and screamed, but no one helped her. No one held her. She learned once more that she was on her own."

Artemis sat back in her throne.

"The girl ran away from her house, thinking that her parents hated her. She thought she was ugly, she thought she was annoying, she thought she was worth _nothing. _Then, she met a boy who told her she was worth something. The two of them grew closer, even meeting and taking in an even younger kid. The girl, finally, had built a family of her own, one that would love her. This time, when the girl cried and screamed, her family held her and helped her."

Hermes wiped something out of his eye.

"Then, the girl sacrificed for her family. She died on a hill, that day."

Zeus stared.

"But, she was spared. When she came back to the world, her family was different. They were different. They had grown. The girl, confused, decided to do something different herself. She decided to join a group of other girls, who felt alone and powerless at one point in their lives. Things weren't the same, though. The boy she met died. The girl they took in died. The girl screamed and cried, but no one held her or helped her this time."

Artemis' eyes began to get shiny.

"The girl realized that no one would hold her or help her if she continued to scream and cry about what she lost. She had to take it upon herself to do something. It was then, that the girl almost lost herself, because loss was all she knew."

Thalia looked at Percy, who looked extremely attentive. Seeing him with no mouth was weird, but his eyes were saying stanzas worth of content.

"At the very last second, the girl found something. She found a friend- someone who had seen her at her darkest and still stuck by her side. The girl began to hope again. The girl began to believe that she still had family. Despite everything that may happen, the girl knew she wouldn't lose this person. That person would always be there."

Thalia looked back to the gods. "Hearing that story, of a girl who lost everything, can you blame her for trying to take back some power in a time where she felt utterly powerless? Chaos wasn't stopping you all that night at Montauk. But you all stood by and _watched, _as my sister got killed. You all pride yourself in being better than the Titans, but you all aren't _good_. You all are driven by this weird self-interest that sometimes extends to your kids and sometimes doesn't. If one thing is for sure, though, it's that you're not fit to rule. You all are erratic, emotional, impulsive, irresponsible, and reckless. That one over there-"

Thalia pointed to Athena. "-bet her own daughter over an arts & crafts contest."

The gods hung their heads in discomfort.

Thalia looked at Athena. "You, specifically, I hate. I hate you. I hate that Annabeth had to be born to a goddess who didn't care enough about her to fight for her life. You're not good enough to have had Annabeth as a daughter."

Thalia looked straight at Zeus, not needing Hestia as a buffer. "Whatever punishment you have for me, do it. But, do it quickly, because I'm tired of being here. But, know that all of this happened because you all failed to act. You all refused to stop something that your comrade did. This isn't an isolated incident, either. You all have a horrible history of just sitting by and enabling each other to do horrible things. You are all complicit in this. All of you. If it's not me-"

Thalia looked at Artemis. "-it'll be someone else that brings you all down if you all keep acting like this."

"Is that a threat, bastard?" Hera spat. Her eyes were cold. "You should know better than to be mouthing off on Olympus like this."

"Hera," Zeus warned. Hera fell silent, but her glare continued the rant.

"Thalia, my…wife's question remains. Do you have anything else to say for yourself?"

Thalia shook her head. "That's about it. I'll, _uh, _take whatever comes to me, I guess."

Zeus nodded. "We will vote for one of two things. Banishment, or death. All in favor for death?"

Ares, Hades, and Hera raised their hands.

"All those in favor of banishment?"

The hands of Poseidon, Demeter, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes, Artemis, and Hestia went up.

"Then it is settled. Thalia, you will be banished from this plane, as you have been deemed too dangerous to remain on Earth. Hades?"

Hades stood, like it was finally his turn. "It is time to get your daughter out of my sight, Zeus."

Zeus closed his eyes grimly. "Goodbye, my daughter."

Percy's eyes widened like he knew what was going to happen. He rushed over to Thalia, as quickly as he could.

"NO," Poseidon yelled, as Hades' staff hit the ground.

Percy tackled Thalia as the two of them felt shadows wrap around them. The shadows pulled them towards Hades' throne, which held a deep, black pit of shadows under it. Poseidon ran to reach for Percy, but it was too late.

Thalia and Percy were sucked into the cold shadows, shadow-traveling against their will like Nico had tried to do with her earlier.

* * *

Thalia gripped Percy's hand as the two of them went so fast that it felt like they no longer had a form. Thalia had only shadow-traveled a few times before, so she was used to the feeling. She felt several cold shivers up her spine. She heard strange noises, almost animalistic in nature.

Whereas shadow-travel usually resulted in the people eventually coming out somewhere, this was different. Thalia and Percy, after a few minutes of flying, just _stopped. _They had stopped, in this aether of darkness. It was then that Thalia realized that Hades had shadow-traveled them with no specific destination in mind.

They were somewhere in the shadows, somewhere in the darkness. The cold began to get to her like Percy's ice, but this cold was both external and internal. Thalia couldn't shake the feeling that this was the end of their story- falling through the frigid shadows aimlessly with no way back or out.

There was no way to move or see. They were in a pitch-black, shadowy vacuum.

Thalia squeezed Percy's hand and he squeezed back.

It was then that Percy became the only source of warmth she had in this place.

The strangled, feral noises began to get closer to them. Thalia, however, felt completely calm.

They were probably going to die. It was impossible to escape.

But if anyone was to do the impossible, it would be them.

Thalia Grace and Percy Jackson.

**That's it! Thanks so much for reading! I know a few of you have requested that I be more active with you all, but I knew that it would work best for me if I finished the story and then engaged with you all about my decisions or your thoughts. Let me know how you felt about the story, or which chapters were your favorite. What characters did you like seeing? Which one did you thought was written the best? Do you think I should write another story about Thalia & Percy in this shadow realm (I'm thinking about it, but I'm not sure)? **

**Feel free to either PM me or submit a review with your responses to any of these things, or something else I may have not have mentioned. I tried to update regularly so you all would have something to do during this time. Stay safe, stay in good spirits, and remember to c****herish those that are willing to stick with you through thick and thin. **


	22. Update!

Hey, all!

I hope you all are taking care of yourselves during this uncertain time. I have a quick update for you all.

I have been quite occupied over the past few months, with work, a new apartment, and two new cats. I have also been practicing, and honing my writing. I know some of you wish that the time was spent writing a sequel to this story, but it's actually been spent attempting to make the leap to writing my first novel! Writing this story made me realize how much I've loved writing (since 12 y/o, when I first read the Percy Jackson books). As such, I decided to challenge myself to write down one of the many original ideas that swirl around in my mind.

I have the first draft of my story ready to go, and am attempting to get it traditionally published. The story features a 17 year-old protagonist, who finds out that he's the son of an angel and deals with the fallout of what this revelation means. The story is an urban/low fantasy, young adult narrative that explores the Christian mythos. While it has tons of action, the story is also meant to explore themes of self-love, found families, and mental health.

I need about one or two beta readers to send my manuscript to, and to give me their honest and detailed reactions to the story. I want to make sure that the story is the best it can be, as I feel like the story is important to the populations represented in the story.

Part of the process of editing the book includes having people read it before, you know_, _people _actually _read it. I was considering who would be good candidates for beta reading, until I realized that there was an entire community of individuals that like to read new, fresh stories born from the imaginations of authors.

The beta readers would definitely be compensated for their time, whether that be financially (it wouldn't be much, but it would be a little something) or time-wise (if you're an aspiring author, I could serve as a beta reader for your manuscript, or give you some feedback regarding your ideas).

If you're interested in serving as a beta reader for the story, feel free to PM me and let me know. In the message, just tell me a little about yourself, your literary preferences (middle-grade, young adult, fantasy, etc.), and your favorite book that you're reading at the moment.

Stay safe, and keep smiling!


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